PARIS, June 2 (Reuters) - Private equity firm JC Flowers

has agreed to buy the French arm of Italian bank Monte dei

Paschi di Siena (MPS) for an undisclosed sum, JC

Flowers said on Tuesday.

It said it would rename the unit and shift its focus to

partnerships with independent financial advisors, targeting

clients with niche product offerings such as mortgages, Lombard

loans and other asset-backed credit and deposits.

"J.C. Flowers is proud to be one of the few firms that has

the operational and sector-specific skills, backed by a proven

track record, to undertake a broad transformational bank

turnaround that will reposition the Bank in the French market,"

said Ilinca Rosetti, operating partner at J.C. Flowers.