Abu Dhabi's Aabar has bought a 4.99 per cent stake in UniCredit, one of Italy's biggest banks, Mohamed Badawy Al-Husseiny, the chief executive of the sovereign wealth fund, said on Thursday.

The stake is worth about 1.85 billion euros ($2.48 billion) at current market prices.

Aabar first invested in UniCredit, the biggest lender in central and eastern Europe, in the bank's 2008 capital increase through convertible bonds.

Aabar becomes UniCredit's second-biggest shareholder, according to its website, behind Italian investment bank Mediobanca, which has 5.143 per cent. The Central Bank of Libya holds 4.988 per cent.

Core Italian foundation shareholders, which individually have less than 4.988 per cent stakes, together hold over 10 per cent of the bank.

UniCredit shares were down 1.2 per cent at 1.88 euros by 0958 GMT. The Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index was down 1.6 per cent.-Reuters