Intesa Sanpaolo to provide 5.2 billion euro loan in Rosneft deal

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) said it would provide a loan for up to 5.2 billion euros (4.2 billion pounds) to help commodities trader Glencore (GLEN.L) and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund buy a 19.5 percent stake in Russian oil company Rosneft (ROSN.MM).

The consortium, of which Qatar Investment Authority and Glencore each own 50 percent, is buying the stake from the Russian state for 10.2 billion euros.

A spokesman for Intesa Sanpaolo said on Tuesday Italy's biggest retail bank was underwriting the loan in full.

Intesa will then seek to involve other lenders in the deal, creating a syndicate of banks to each take on a portion of the loan, the spokesman said.

"By its underwriting, Intesa Sanpaolo, in compliance with international rules, bolsters ... its relation with two big international players," he said. "The underwriting, to be syndicated, has strong protection in terms of collateral and guarantees."

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro and Valentina Za,)