MILAN (Reuters) - UniCredit SpA (CRDI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) has sealed a 747 million euros ($1.2 billion) deal to sell 184 branches to a group of domestic banks to meet antitrust demands over its purchase of Capitalia, the Italian bank said on Friday.

UniCredit said in a statement the deal should improve its Core Tier 1 ratio -- a key measure of financial strength -- by around 11 basis points.

The deal also allows the banks to buy 45 branch buildings owned by UniCredit for 62 million euros, UniCredit said.

The banks buying the branches include Banca Popolare di Milano (PMII.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), Credito Emiliano (EMBI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna (EMII.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) and Banca Carige (CRGI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research).

Banca Popolare dell'Etruria e del Lazio, Banca Agricola Popolare di Ragusa, Banca Popolare di S. Angelo and five other small banks make up the group.

UniCredit shares were down 0.8 percent at 4.72 euros by 1454 GMT, hardly changed from before the announcement, which had been expected. The DJ Stoxx index of European banks was down 0.6 percent.

UniCredit was told in September by antitrust authorities to sell the branches, as one of several conditions for getting approval for its takeover of Capitalia. The purchase propelled it into Europe's No. 3 slot with a market capitalisation of around 64 billion euros.

(Reporting by Jo Winterbottom; Editing by David Holmes)