MILAN: Credit Agricole has presented an offer to buy troubled lender Banca Carige , Italian daily Il Messaggero said on Thursday.

According to the paper, the French lender has offered 1 euro ($1.13) and has asked for a capital injection of 700 million euros in the loss-making bank before the acquisition, the paper said.

Italy's BPER Banca last years made a takeover proposal to Italy's depositor protection fund (FITD) for the controlling stake it holds in Carige after its 2019 rescue, contingent on the fund first pumping one billion euros into the bank.