* BPI sells 1,322,142 shares at 142.26 euros each
* French stake was to ward off U.S. activist fund
* BPI retains 1.7 pct stake, 3.2 pct voting rights
PARIS, March 31 (Reuters) - France's BPI public investment bank sold on Tuesday a 1.7-percent stake in French car parts maker Valeo as it cuts a position built up to ward off an attack from a U.S. activist investor.
BPI said in a statement it had raised 188 million euros ($202.55 million) by selling 1,322,142 Valeo shares at 142.26 euros each.
The government-owned bank already sold a 2.5 percent stake in Valeo in 2014 after French state vehicles built up a position of more than eight percent in Valeo's capital in 2009 as a counter-balance to U.S. hedge fund Pardus Capital.
A the time, Valeo was under pressure from Pardus to change strategy and sell assets as the sector struggled to cope with a severe downturn. Pardus has since sold out of the nearly 20 percent stake it built up.
BPI said that Valeo now benefitted from a stable shareholder base and had consolidated a leading position in its sector over the last five years, especially in Asia.
The sale leaves BPI with a 1.7 percent stake in Valeo and 3.2 percent of the voting rights. French state lender CDC also holds 1.83 percent of Valeo's capital and 3.44 percent of its voting rights, making the government the company's biggest shareholder.
Valeo's shares were down 1.99 percent at 140.10 euros at 0815 GMT while the CAC 40 index of biggest French companies was up 0.14 percent.
Credit Suisse acted as lead manager and bookrunner for the sale.
($1 = 0.9282 euros) (Reporting by Alexandre Boksenbaum-Granier and Gilles Guillaume; writing by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Andrew Callus)