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Italy's state-controlled long-term lender, Cassa Deposite e Prestiti SpA, may take a modest stake in Parmalat SpA (PLT.MI) to guarantee that the company remains headquartered and listed in Italy even under a French owner, said CDP's chairman in an interview published Wednesday in Il Foglio.

French cheesemaker Lactalis SA said Tuesday it will pay EUR2.60 a share for the 71% of Parmalat it doesn't own.

CDP Chairman Franco Bassanini said he viewed positively Lactalis's promise to keep Parmalat's headquarters in Italy and preserve its listing on the Milan bourse.

"Those promises could be guaranteed, perhaps, by an Italian partner," Bassanini told the newspaper.

CDP's statute was recently changed and the bank, which taps Italy's postal savings, had been studying taking a stake in Parmalat alongside Italian banks led by Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI).

CDP, which is 70% owned by the Italian Treasury and the rest by the nonprofit foundations that control most Italian lenders, could also take a stake of around 10% on its own, Italian newspapers have said.

Bassanini said he was "not worried" by Lactalis's takeover offer and noted that CDP's actions--basically studying a counterbid--had prompted the French company to offer a higher price to Parmalat's shareholders than otherwise.

Lactalis has already spent around EUR1.3 billion for a 29% stake in Parmalat, and estimated its offer as worth EUR3.4 billion for the rest of the company.

Lactalis said it doesn't aim to delist Parmalat, but according to the French company's offer announcement, the takeover offer price is conditional on Lactalis ending up with at least 55% of the company, implying the outlay could be as low as a further EUR1.2 billion for total control of the Italian company and its EUR1.4 billion net cash pile.

Lactalis is expected to publish a prospectus for its offer soon in a bid to conclude the operation before Parmalat's annual general meeting at the end of June. The prospectus is likely to proide insight into the finances of the privately-held French company, which doesn't publish an annual balance sheet.

Parmalat's shares were unchanged at EUR2.565 Wednesday, signaling investors don't expect a higher counterbid from an Italian consortium.

-By Christopher Emsden, Dow Jones Newswires; +39-06-6976-6921; chris.emsden@dowjones.com

(Eva Palumbo of MF-Dow Jones in Rome contributed to this report.)

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