* Analysts don't see industrial benefits from tie
* Generali exiting from Intesa Vita bancassurance
* Generali already valuing Intesa stake at market price
MILAN, July 6 (Reuters) - Italy's leading insurer, Assicurazioni Generali SpA, looks unlikely to deliver hoped-for business benefits from a pact with Credit Agricole on their Intesa Sanpaolo SpA stakes, analysts said.
An original end-April pact was watered down at the end of June in the face of opposition from Italy's antitrust authority. On Friday, the regulator said the changes were not enough, although Intesa's chief executive said on Monday he expected a solution to be found.
"This pact does not have much sense industrially. There is no bancassurance (alliance) and no other reasons," an analyst with a leading Milan bank said.
This analyst said, however, that the pact may cement ties between Generali Chairman Antoine Bernheim and Intesa Sanpaolo Chairman Giovanni Bazoli.
The two companies had a joint venture in bancassurance, Intesa Vita, but Generali has decided to sell its 50 percent stake back to Intesa.
Intesa has now said it will put the business together with other 100-percent owned insurance operations to create an 8 billion euro premium life insurance company.
Intesa Sanpaolo is not a Generali shareholder.
Generali's Bernheim said at the end of April that the pact was set up at Credit Agricole's request as a favour to the French bank and without specific bancassurance ties. Generali reiterated that stance on Monday.
POSSIBLE BENEFITS
Some analysts cited possible benefits for Generali from the pact in completing the sale of its stake in the Intesa Vita joint venture or avoiding write-downs on its 5.0 percent stake in Intesa Sanpaolo, or creating bancassurance ties with Credit Agricole.
"The critical thing for Generali is reaching a resolution on the (Intesa Vita) joint venture and negotiating an exit price," said ING analyst Charles Graham.
Generali has said it is selling the Intesa Vita stake because of poor returns. Generali executives have said they expect a 650 million to 700 million euros price for the 50 percent stake.
Intesa declined to comment on progress on the Intesa Vita stake sale nor on Generali's view on the price it should get.
Analysts are agreed on Credit Agricole's motive in setting up the share pact -- to give its 5.8 percent Intesa stake a strategic value and to avoid a big write-down.
Under 2006 antitrust pledges, Credit Agricole was supposed to cut its stake to under 5 percent by Jan. 1, 2008, and to less than 2 percent this year.
The first Milan analyst said he doesn't see "a clear motive for Generali for this share pact. (But) the Credit Agricole motive is clear - to stop a write-down in its Intesa stake."
Generali has already aligned the value of its stake in Intesa to market values.
A second Milan analyst said he sees the pact leading to Generali/Credit Agricole bancassurance deals in Italy or elsewhere.
However, the majority of analysts said that Credit Agricole already has arrangements for bancassurance sales including its own in-house insurance unit and agreed there was little scope to tie-up with Generali on these sales. (Writing by Nigel Tutt; editing by Simon Jessop)