Goldman Sachs is facing tough competition in Italy as a second attempt in as many days to buy a business in the country was challenged by a rival bidder. It comes just a month after the bank appointed a former aide to ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to its board of international advisers.

A Merrill Lynch subsidiary this morning beat Goldman Sachs's offer for Berenice Fondo Uffici, an Italian property fund managed by Pirelli Real Estate, by €8m ($11m), with a €770m bid, just days after a Goldman investment vehicle offered €762m for the company.