MILAN, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The top shareholder in BPER Banca said on Monday it viewed positively further expansion at the Italian bank but growth could not "be an end in itself".

Speaking at the FABI banking union's conference, Unipol CEO Carlo Cimbri said BPER could not chase the idea of "a third or fourth large banking group in the country, which is something newspapers love to write about".

Unipol is the top shareholder in BPER with nearly 20%.

(Reporting by Valentina Za; editing by Agnieszka Flak)