Generali: the latest moves by Caltagirone and Crt, the maneuvers of De Agostini and the surprise card of Nagel for the confirmation of Donnet
What happens in Assicurazioni Generali? Facts, names, numbers, rumors, insights and scenarios
Arms are being sharpened among the shareholders of Generali, while the alignments and the institutions supervising are clarified even more.
Here are all the news in view of the renewal of the top management of Assicurazioni Generali: in fact the crux of the dispute is the confirmation or not of the CEO Philippe Donnet. But there are those in Mediobanca – according to rumors circulating in Milanese finance – think of a mediation with the shareholders of Generali anti Donnet: offering the presidency of the Lion to one of the hustling: Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone.
CALTAGIRONE'S MOVES IN GENERAL
Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone rounded off his stake in Generali by purchasing another 0.1% of the share capital in the last few days and rising to approximately 6.2%. The stock today rises by 1.72% to 17.75 euros for over 28 billion euros of capitalization, while the Ftse Mib gains 1.25%. The stake held by the Roman entrepreneur is therefore worth 1.73 billion.
THE LATEST GENERAL PURCHASES BY CALTAGIRONE
According to some internal dealing, Caltagirone purchased approximately 1.6 million shares at unit prices between 17.3596 and 17.7474 euros between 17 September and yesterday. On 11 September, Caltagirone himself and Leonardo Del Vecchio, Generali shareholder with 5%, announced a consultation agreement in view of the renewal of the board next spring. With the subsequent entry of the Crt Foundation, the agreement collects a total of 12.4%, just below the stake of Mediobanca, the largest single shareholder, with approximately 13%.
CALTAGIRONE'S FORCING AGAINST DONNET DEFENDED BY MEDIOBANCA
As is well known, Caltagirone and Del Vecchio are asking for a change of pace in the company's strategy, not confirming the mandate of the current CEO Philippe Donnet, who instead enjoys the support of Piazzetta Cuccia and its CEO, Alberto Nagel. The latter, in turn, is under pressure from Del Vecchio, Mediobanca's first shareholder with 18.9%.
THE MOVE OF CRT PRO CALTAGIRONE AND THE VECCHIO
The Turin Crt foundation has also formally joined the two entrepreneurs. The Turin Foundation, in fact, adhered 'unconditionally and irrevocably, for all legal purposes' to the agreement already in place between the Caltagirone group and Delfin (Del Vecchio's safe) on Generali,' whose purpose it shares ", and “Acknowledges that it assumes all the rights and obligations” governed by the agreement itself in relation to the 19,482,665 shares of Leone (1.232% of the capital) held and all contributed to the shareholders' agreement. This is what we read in the letter, consulted by Radiocor , with which the Turin credit institution last September 17 asked Caltagirone and Del Vecchio to enter into the agreement on Generali which, in these hours, has risen to 12.43. % of the share capital of the Trieste company. The shared purpose of the agreement between the two entrepreneurs, it should be remembered, is "to weigh their autonomous interests with respect to a more profitable and effective management of the company, based on the technological modernization of the characteristic activity, the strategic positioning of the company, as well as to its growth in an open, transparent and contestable market logic ".
THE AUTHORITIES SURVEILLANCE
In the meantime, the Financial System Control Authorities are carefully monitoring the 'battle' for the renewal of the Board of Directors of Generali and among these there would also be the Bank of Italy. The economic newspaper Mf writes it today on the front page in an article in which it explains that Ivass and Consob are also following the story due to their respective competences. Among the "monitored balances", writes the newspaper, also the rumors reported yesterday by two different sites on the fact that a lighthouse would be lit on the possibility that Crt at 12.3% there could be one between Mediobanca and De Agostini for a 14.63 % of shares. The companies do not comment on the rumors and the only indication obtained from the stock exchange authority is that the Generali affair is being followed by the offices in all its aspects.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE INFORMAL MEETING
At an informal meeting of non-executive board members last week, eight out of 12 directors came out in favor of Donnet's confirmation. Three votes against: from Caltagirone himself who is vice president and from two other directors linked to him and to Del Vecchio. An abstention was then registered.
THE TIMING
On 24 September, the nominations committee will meet, while on the 27th of the month the board of directors will be called upon to decide whether to start the procedure to develop its own list for the renewal of the board, a novelty introduced last year in the statute. Caltagirone and Del Vecchio could present their own slate for the renewal of the board with an alternative proposal for the CEO. The decisive appointment is the April assembly. Institutional investors remain in the balance with around 40% in the share capital of Generali. The decision of the Benetton family, shareholder with 3.97%, should also be verified.
THE CASE OF BANCA GENERALI
But why do Caltagirone and Del Vecchio want to cripple Donnet? There are several dossiers at the center of the criticisms of the two shareholders of the Leone. The casus belli was the attempted sale of Banca Generali to Mediobanca, without a tender, Repubblica recalled last Monday. Among other things, a certain uproar has been unleashed on Banca Generali in international newspapers (and which in Italian paper newspapers have been echoed only in La Stampa of Turin) not only for a recent provision ; events that indirectly weakened the Caltagirone front because the number one of Banca Generali is considered close to the galaxy of the Sicilian-Roman entrepreneur.
THE CATHOLIC DOSSIER
But there is also more: the acquisition of Cattolica was not too much appreciated by Caltagirone and Del Vecchio – to put it mildly – as Generali focuses too much on Italy. "And on the other hand, the non-acquisition of Aviva's assets in Poland, the non-participation in the tender for Pioneer, a policy of generally small prey shopping in Malaysia as in Greece, would be an indication of an insufficiently ambitious attitude", added Repubblica. .
THE CRITICS OF CALTAGIRONE AND DEL VECCHIO AGAINST DONNET SECOND REPUBLIC
In the eyes of Del Vecchio and Caltagirone it is not enough that under Donnet the Lion has matured the best combined ratio among the competitors and a total shareholder value of 95% since November 2016, according to Repubblica : "It is not enough that Donnet has fully grasped the objectives indicated in the industrial plans voted in the assembly. The comparison with competitors counts more – “30 years ago Generali was bigger than Allianz and Axa” – and with their development policies ”.
In the last three years, Allianz has acquired assets for over 5 billion (including Aviva in Poland), Axa has put 12 billion on the plate for the American XL, Zurich has invested 6 billion to increase the perimeter. Generali has dedicated € 3.3 billion to acquisitions, including the generous € 1 billion for Cattolica (the takeover bid is on the launch pad). Too little for growth on an international scale, added the financial back of the newspaper of the Gedi group: "According to Del Vecchio and Caltagirone, if the resources generated by the company are not sufficient, the theme of a capital increase aimed at accelerating the pace will not it can remain a taboo ”.
CALTAGIRONE IN THE CHAIRMAN OF GENERALI
But in Milan there are those who believe that Mediobanca has a secret card to appease Caltagirone: to offer the builder-publisher the chair of president of Generali, to crown an ancient dream never confessed.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/generali-le-ultime-mosse-di-caltagirone-e-crt-le-manovre-di-de-agostini-e-la-carta-a-sorpresa-di-nagel-per-la-conferma-di-donnet/ on Tue, 21 Sep 2021 13:48:53 +0000.