Ardian buys majority stake in engineering group Masco

MILAN (Reuters) - French investment firm Ardian has bought a majority stake in Italian pharmaceutical and biotech company Masco, the firms said on Monday, in a deal which two sources said gave an enterprise value of around 700 million euros ($762 million) for the stake.

Masco Group, whose stake was sold by RAG Stiftung holding RSBG SE, supplies products and services including purified water systems, biotech processing tools and prefabricated structures for pharmaceutical plants and labs to more than 80 countries, the statement said.

Ardian, which was advised by J.P. Morgan, said it would support Masco's growth through further international expansion and acquisitions.

Luca Borella will remain Masco's chief executive, while Angelos Papadimitriou and Claudio Colombi will be appointed chairman and director, the companies said.

Ardian and insurer Credit Agricole Assurance sold last week a 49% share in Italian airport group 2i Aeroporti to Spanish fund Asterion, which two sources valued between 800 and 900 million euros.

($1 = 0.9184 euros)

(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin, writing by Alessandro Parodi, Editing by Louise Heavens)