(Recasts with Fiat board meeting Saturday on Toro)
By Svetlana Kovalyova
MILAN, March 22 (Reuters) - Italy's Fiat said on Saturday its board will meet later in the day to examine offers for its insurance unit Toro, which the industrial group had put up for sale to help turn around its loss-making car arm.
Fiat's cash-burning car arm Fiat Auto dragged the industrial group into a record 4.26 billion euro net loss in 2002. Fiat is trying to sell some of its best performing units, including Toro and aviation arm Fiat Avio, to inject cash into Fiat Auto.
"Extraordinary board meeting will take place in the afternoon and should examine acquisition offers presented for Toro," a Fiat spokesman said.
Toro is Italy's sixth-largest insurance group and is valued by analysts at 2.0-2.5 billion euros ($2.12 -$2.65 billion).
Italian newspapers reported on Saturday that French insurer Groupama emerged as a third bidder for Toro, joining Italian publisher De Agostini and a joint offer from Italian insurer Unipol and an investment firm, Hopa, controlled by financier Emilio Gnutti.
Friday was a deadline to present binding offers, the papers said.
No one at Groupama was immediately available for a comment while Fiat declined to comment on the offers until a final decision.
De Agostini and Unipol-Hopa have already announced that they were bidding but did not disclose how much they would pay for Toro.
Newspapers said their offers put a price tag of 2.0-2.2 billion euros on the insurer.
Il Sole 24 Ore financial daily also said UK private equity fund Doughty Hanson together with an Italian maker of small executive planes, Piaggio Aero Industries, offered about 1.8 billion euros for Fiat Avio.
Officials at both companies were not immediately availabe for comment.
Italian defence group Finmeccanica , U.S. private equity firm The Carlyle group and French state-owned aero engine maker Snecma [SNEC.UL] were reported as building various alliances to bid for Fiat's aviation unit.
Fiat earlier this month closed a long-planned sale of 51 percent of its customer financing unit Fidis to creditor banks for 370 million euros, roughtly in line with the market expectations.