MILAN, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Italy"s BPER Banca (EMII.MI) said on Tuesday it was open to holding in-depth discussions with Carige"s (CRGI.MI) owner about its offer to buy the ailing regional lender. BPER Banca last week made a takeover proposal to Italy"s depositor protection fund (FITD) for the controlling stake it holds in Carige after its 2019 rescue, contingent on the fund first pumping one billion euros ($1.1 billion) into the loss-making bank. The proposed FITD contribution would cover integration and clean up charges, as well as the cost of unwinding Carige"s commercial partnerships. However, the Italian banks which are FITD"s stakeholders rejected the offer, saying the fund could not meet BPER"s capital demands as it is not allowed to inject more than 600-700 million euros into Carige. read more "BPER Banca reiterated to the Fund its willingness to provide the clarifications requested and carry out the deep-dive analysis deemed necessary, as well as to jointly verify the assumptions underlying the offer," the bank said in a statement. BPER, Italy"s fifth-largest bank, said its offer would provide a "definitive solution" for Carige"s problems and reiterated its call for exclusive talks to clinch the deal. FITD owns 80% of Carige while Cassa Centrale Banca (CCB), a regional lender that has spurned a proposed Carige acquisition, has an 8.3% stake. BPER has offered a token 1 euro for the combined 88.3% holding. It would then spend 70 million euros to buy out other investors. ($1 = 0.8872 euros) Reporting by Andrea Mandalà Editing by Giulia Segreti and Mark Potter