(Adds additional source, details) By Gianluca Semeraro and Michael Shields MILAN/VIENNA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - UniCredit is considering the sale of retail and small and medium enterprise (SME) finance businesses at its central and eastern European arm Bank Austria, two sources close to the matter said on Monday. "It is one of the options on the table," one source said. Austrian newspaper Der Standard cited UniCredit sources as saying the Italian bank was in high-level talks with U.S. investor Cerberus Capital Management, the owner of Austrian lender Bawag PSK. A second source confirmed sale talks on the Austrian retail and SME assets were under way with Bawag, owned by Cerberus and GoldenTree Asset Management. UniCredit was looking for around 800 million euros ($900 million) in the sale, which would double Bawag's size, but a deal was "not definite" given disagreements on the price, this source added. Bawag declined to comment beyond reiterating that its shareholders were evaluating several strategic options. It said in August all options, including an acquisition, were part of a strategic review. Der Standard reported Bank Austria's wealth management segment was to move under the umbrella of its subsidiary Schoellerbank. In a statement on Monday, UniCredit said no decision had yet been taken as regards Bank Austria and no preferred solution was on the table. "More in general we can confirm that we're continuously striving for financially sustainable business models across all our geographies," it said. Bank Austria runs most of UniCredit's business in central and Eastern Europe, but a contract keeping the business in Vienna runs out next March. UniCredit's CEO Federico Ghizzoni is reworking a five-year strategic plan, unveiled only last year, designed to boost revenue and cut costs. The bank plans to slash around 10,000 jobs, with most of the cuts concentrated in Italy, Germany and Austria, several sources said. Cutting costs would help UniCredit fend off market concerns that it may need to launch a share issue, something Ghizzoni has repeatedly denied. "In the context of low-profitability businesses, UniCredit continuously evaluates a number of potential organic and non-organic solutions to improve the overall profitability of the Group," the Italian lender said on Monday. ($1 = 0.8832 euros) (Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in Vienna, writing by Stephen Jewkes, editing by David Evans/Ruth Pitchford)
UniCredit is considering selling its retail and small and medium enterprise finance businesses at its central and eastern European unit, Bank Austria, as renewal for the contract keeping the business in Vienna runs out five year; the bank would be looking at a sale price of $900m. Reports suggest that UniCredit is in talks to sell the unit to US investor, Cerberus Capital Management, which owns Austrian lender, Bawag PSK. Unicredit's CEO, Federico Ghizzoni, is in the process of re-working a next March strategic plan, designed to boost revenue and cuts costs.