UPDATE 1-CVC explores options for Italy's Recordati, Bloomberg News reports

(Adds details and background from paragraph 2 onwards)

April 23 (Reuters) - CVC Capital Partners is exploring options for its controlling stake in Italian pharmaceutical group Recordati SpA, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

CVC is working with advisers and is in the early stages of studying alternatives, including a potential sale or a combination with another business, the report said. The deliberations are in the early stages and there is no guarantee of a final deal, it added.

CVC and Recordati did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comments.

A CVC-led consortium of investment funds had agreed to buy 51.8% of Recordati in a deal worth about 3 billion euros in 2018.

Shares of Recordati have risen about 7.7% since the beginning of this year, giving the company a market capitalization of about 11 billion euros ($11.77 billion).

($1 = 0.9343 euros) (Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)