Italy's La Doria top investor in talks with Investindustrial to sell

MILAN (Reuters) - The majority investor in Italy's La Doria is negotiating with private equity firm Investindustrial to sell its controlling stake in the juice and canned tomato producer at 16.50 euros per share, the food maker said on Monday.

Investindustrial will launch a tender offer on the remaining shares at the same price after reaching the deal with the top investor, the Ferraioli family, which holds a 63% stake in the group.

The deal at a price of 16.50 euros gives the company a value of 512 million euros ($599.76 million), according to Reuters' calculations.

Exclusive talks will go on until Oct. 20, the statement said.

Some members of the family will stay on to manage the company, it added.

Shares closed at 19.44 euros on Friday when they jumped more than 9% after the company said the controlling shareholders were exploring various options regarding their stake.

($1 = 0.8537 euros)

(Reporting by Cristina Carlevaro, editing by Louise Heavens)