A unit of Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) plans to buy a 50 per cent stake in an Italian company authorised to extract one third of the marble from the hills above the Tuscan town of Carrara in a deal worth about $60 million, reports said.

Marmi Carrara is one of the biggest marble quarrying companies operating in the Apuan Alps above Carrara.

SBG unit Construction Products Holding Company’s chief operating officer Walid Samaha will preside over the new venture, said a report.

Carrara products are primarily for interior and exterior flooring, wall panels and interior decoration.

The quarry produced the stone for London's Marble Arch and Michelangelo's masterpiece David, reports said.