MILAN, July 16 (Reuters) - Intesa Sanpaolo's Gaetano Micciche, chairman of its IMI investment banking arm, said on Thursday he was very confident that its takeover bid for smaller rival UBI Banca UBI.MI would have a positive outcome.

"I'm very confident about the outcome of the bid and I am deeply convinced of its benefits for Ubi's shareholders," he told local website Torinoggi.it.

Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI in February announced an all-paper exchange offer for UBI to create the euro zone's seventh-largest banking group, just days before the novel coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

The bid was formally launched on July 6 and runs until July 28.

As of July 15 investors had tendered 2.596% of the UBI shares required for the exchange, Borsa Italiana said in a statement.

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Jason Neely)

((gianluca.semeraro@tr.com; +39 02 66 129 503;))

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