MILAN, April 15 (Reuters) - MFE-MediaForEurope, the TV group led by Italy's Berlusconi family, held talks in recent months with various banks ready to fund a potential bid for German peer ProSiebenSat.1 worth up to around 4 billion euros , according to people close to the matter and documents seen by Reuters.

While MFE has indicated it could consider a buyout offer for ProSieben only once the latter shed its non-core assets, endorsement by banks of a potential takeover strengthens MFE's hand in the shareholder battle the two broadcasters have engaged ahead of ProSieben's annual general meeting (AGM) on April 30.

Dutch-based MFE is the single biggest investor in ProSieben with a near 30% stake it started building in 2019 as part of plans to create a pan-European TV platform.

MFE wants ProSieben to divest its digital businesses and is seeking other shareholders' support for an AGM resolution to push the Bavarian rival to start assessing a spin-off of its online assets, comprising e-commerce and dating services.

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Valentina Za, editing by Gavin Jones)