French dairy group Lactalis tightened its grip on Parmalat SpA by raising its holding in the Italian food company to just below 30 percent, piling the pressure on potential Italian buyers. Europe's biggest dairy group said it was buying 15.3 percent of Parmalat from Zenit Asset Management, Skagen and Mackenzie Financial Corp of Canada's IGM Financial  for $1.1 billion, defying vocal resistance from Rome to foreign buys.

Lactalis' rapid inroads into Parmalat's capital prompted  Ferrero to say it remained interested in a long-term industrial solution for Parmalat if conditions allow. Italy's biggest retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo may form a consortium with the closely held maker of Nutella spread, to try to take control of Parmalat. But time is running short ahead of a looming shareholder meeting scheduled on April 12-14. Intesa owns around 2.4 percent of Parmalat.

Lactalis could win control of Parmalat at the AGM by locking in as many as nine out of 11 board seats under company bylaws.