MILAN (Reuters) – The fund that owns ailing Italian lender Carige on Monday approved the sale of its stake to BPER Banca, a source close to the matter said, in a deal that will end a seven-year crisis at the regional lender. BPER, Italy’s fifth-largest bank, last month entered exclusive talks over Carige with Italy’s FITD depositor protection fund, which owns 80% of the bank since a 2019 rescue financed by the industry. After roughly halving its initial capital injection request, BPER has said it will take on Carige at a token 1 euro price provided the FITD fund pumps 530 million euros into th…