UPDATE 1-Generali to buy Czech insurer-board member

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MILAN, April 26 (Reuters) - Italy's number one insurer, Generali , has decided to buy leading Czech peer Ceska Pojistovna, a Generali board member said on Thursday.

"We have decided to buy the Czech insurer," board member Vittorio Ripa di Meana told reporters at the end of an extraordinary board meeting in Venice.

Pojistovna, which at the end of 2006 controlled a third of the Czech insurance market, is fully owned by investment group PPF, held by financier Petr Kellner, the country's richest man.

Neither Generali, Italy's leading insurer with a market capitalisation of about 42.5 billion euros ($57.86 billion), nor PPF were immediately able to add details.

Ceska Pojistovna, a former communist-era insurance monopoly, has seen its market share erode over the past year as competition grows. Its premiums dropped to 39.7 billion crowns in 2006 due to a worsening of the life business.

Generali shares were down 0.21 percent at 33.57 euros at 1400 GMT, broadly in line with Milan's S&PMIB market. ($1=.7345 Euro)

Keywords: GENERALI CESKA/