Berlusconi to pay ex €300,000 a month

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has reached a divorce settlement under which his second wife will receive 300,000 euros a month, less than a tenth of the sum she sought, press reports said Tuesday.

Veronica Lario, 20 years Berlusconi's junior at age 53, will also enjoy the use of a large villa outside Milan -- where she already resides -- in the deal to end the couple's 19-year marriage, the reports said.

The former stage actress filed for divorce a year ago after revelations that the media tycoon, noted for his dalliances with other women, attended the 18th birthday party of an aspiring model who called him "Daddy".

She had sought alimony payments of 3.5 million euros (4.4 million dollars) a month, a figure Berlusconi's lawyers rejected as "exorbitant."

The details of the settlement come on the heels of Italy's first trade fair offering one-stop shopping for unhappy spouses.

The fair, fittingly held in Berlusconi's native Milan at the weekend, showcased dating services for new singles, divorce lawyers, seduction coaches and party ideas for those in the mood to celebrate a break-up.

Since its legalisation in 1974, divorce is on the rise in predominantly Catholic Italy, tripling to 100,000 per year in the past decade.