MILAN (Reuters) - French asset manager Amundi holds a 1.3% stake in UniCredit on behalf of its clients, Europe's biggest fund management company said in reply to a Reuters query.

"The shareholding is held on behalf of Amundi's clients and is totally consistent with Amundi's business as usual," the company said.

Amundi is UniCredit's fund management partner, having bought Pioneer, the Italian bank's fund business, in 2017. Italy had tried at the time to keep Pioneer in Italian hands but Amundi outbid a consortium of domestic investors.

With one of the world's largest public debt piles to refinance, Italy is keen to retain domestic savings under Italian ownership.

Amundi is owned by Credit Agricole which is the biggest investor in Banco BPM, the rival for which UniCredit has launched an unsolicited buyout offer.

The offer has thrown a spanner in the works for Banco BPM as it seeks to acquire full control of Anima Holding, which is Italy's biggest fund manager, partly owned by Banco BPM already.

A month after Credit Agricole bought its Banco BPM stake in early 2022, Amundi acquired a 5.2% Anima stake, also on behalf of its clients. It said at the time it had no interest in a takeover.

However, sources told Reuters then that the government fretted about Anima potentially falling into foreign hands and wanted to keep a stronghold of domestic savings and large holder of state bonds under Italian ownership.

Before UniCredit's shock move, the government had been working towards an eventual combination of Banco BPM and Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which both partner with Anima.

The government this month sold at a premium a 15% Monte dei Paschi stake, of which 5% to Banco BPM and another 3% to Anima.

Anima already owned 1% so BPM would eventually have had 9% of Tuscan rival MPS after completing its acquisition of Anima.

News of Amundi's UniCredit stake was first reported by Il Sole 24 Ore daily.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Alvise Armellini/Keith Weir)