French businessman Tapie eyes Club Med stake-paper

* Businessman Tapie reveals interest in Club Med stake

* Holiday firm has just announced capital hike

PARIS, May 9 (Reuters) - French entrepreneur Bernard Tapie is considering taking a stake in holiday group Club Mediterranee (CMIP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), which has just announced a capital increase, Tapie said in an interview published on Saturday.

Club Med on Wednesday launched a 102 million euro ($137 million) capital hike to shore up its finances and announced it had swung to a loss in the first five months of its fiscal year. [nL6169290]

In an interview with French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, Tapie said he did not own any Club Med shares but was considering buying a stake in the group, which runs holiday villages around the world.

"Three or four friendly funds are ready to accompany me in this operation, and I also have backing from some of the group's shareholders who are fed up of seeing their investment melt over the past five years," Tapie was quoted as saying.

He and his business partners had originally given themselves until June to think about it, but the planned capital hike would prompt them to bring forward their decision, he said.

Club Med plans to issue about 51 million euros of new shares and a further 51 million of ORANE bonds convertible into new or existing shares.