* Knight Vinke asset mgr favours splitting ops
* Upstream, downstream ops each worth more than the whole
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MILAN, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The structure of Italian oil and gas group Eni could be improved and value generated by splitting its upstream and downstream businesses, an Eni shareholder said on Wednesday.
Knight Vinke, the New York-based asset manager which owns just under 1 percent of Italian oil and gas group Eni, said in a press release that, unlike other national energy companies, Eni has major upstream and downstream business, "each of which would be as valuable as the whole of Eni is today".
"Combining the two businesses under one roof results in Eni being financially constrained, as clearly demonstrated by the recent dividend cut," it said in a statement.
In its current shape the Group is unable to borrow as much as Eni's downstream utility could borrow on its own and its shares trade on a low multiple that does not reflect the high growth of its upstream operations, Knight Vinke said.
Earlier this year, activist shareholder Knight Vinke criticised the strategy of HSBC bank, winning some support from other HSBC shareholders
Eni, which is controlled by the Italian state, controls Italian gas transmission grid operator Snam Rete Gas which in turn controls domestic gas distribution network Italgas and gas storage unit Stogit.
Eni was not immediately available for comment.
"They (Knight Vinke) are saying reasonable things but (Paolo) Scaroni (Eni chief executive) has said he would never sell the group's utilities. It is unlikely anything will happen but at least they made the point," a Milan-based analyst said.
At 1447 GMT Eni shares were up 1.72 percent at 16.55 euros.
(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; editing by Elaine Hardcastle)