Mystery bidder for Fiat's Toro

Fiat may be close to selling its profit-making insurance unit Toro. Italian media sources report that U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs have made an offer for the business on behalf of a client.

Sources have confirmed the offer, first outlined in financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore – but were unable to specify whether the bidder was Italian or foreign.

Fiat is selling Toro under pressure from its creditor banks eager to raise billions of euros to bolster debt-ridden Fiat Auto.

Any Toro deal may be complicated by the package being offered. On Monday, Toro's deputy chairman Franco Grande Stevens said the company's sale would include its 6.6 per cent stake in bank Capitalia.