Prima Assicurazioni, Facile.it and Alberto Genovese. Facts and controversies
Here are the crosses between Alberto Genovese, Prima Assicurazioni and Eqt (the fund that bought Facile.it in 2018) and the risk of conflicts of interest between the company specializing in the sale of online policies and the leading company in the comparison of insurance, mortgages , loans, energy tariffs, telephony and current accounts.
Alberto Genovese is the founder and main shareholder of Prima Assicurazioni with 55.31%. The insurance company specializing in online policies also sells through the Facile.it website, a leading company in the comparison of insurance, mortgages, loans, energy tariffs, telephony and current accounts founded by Genovese and then sold in 2014 to the Oakley fund and in 2018 to the fund Eqt VIII. Milano Finanza wrote that the Konsumer association presented a complaint to IVASS and to the Antitrust as Genovese in recent years has remained a member of the Advisor Council of Eqt VIII. Consumers therefore reported the risk of a favorable treatment for Prima Assicurazioni by Facile.it. Ivass and Antitrust will have to carry out checks to understand if the crossing of seats is only a matter of technical skills or if there is more.
IVASS AND ANTITRUST IN THE FIELD FOR FIRST INSURANCE
Ivass and the Antitrust, according to what Milano Finanza writes, were called in for Prima Assicurazioni by Konsumer consumers after the arrest of the founder Alberto Genovese, accused of sexual violence, drug dealing and kidnapping. The issue concerns the possible conflicts of interest between Prima Assicurazioni and Facile.it.
FIRST INSURANCE
In 2014 Alberto Genovese founded Prima Assicurazioni , an insurance agency specializing in the sale of online policies. Genovese remains the group's main shareholder with a 55.31% stake as he resigns from the position of CEO and chairman shortly after the arrest leaving the management in the hands of George Ottathycal Kuruvilla. In the Prima Assicurazioni shareholding structure there are giants such as Blackstone and Goldman Sachs, which in 2018 participated in a maxi-round of investment of 100 million euros for the Startup.
FACILE.IT
Facile.it, a leading comparison of insurance, mortgage, loans, tariffs, telephone and current accounts is founded by Alberto Genovese in 2010. In 2014 Facile.it is sold to the English Oakley fund for 100 million euro, while in 2018 is sold to the Swedish fund Eqt VIII for 400-450 million euros.
THE EXPOSURE PRESENTED BY KONSUMER
In the complaint presented by Konsumer to the authorities, as reported by Milano Finanza , it emerges that Genovese in recent years has remained a member of the Board of Advisor of Eqt VIII in Luxembourg and left the board immediately after the arrest, as he did also in First Insurance.
RISK OF FAVORITE TREATMENT
Considering the presence of Genovese on the Board of Advisors of Eqt VIII, which in 2018 bought Facile.it and the fact that Prima Assicurazioni policies are also sold through Facile.it, consumers have reported the risk of preferential treatment. A scenario that, as Milano Finanza writes, Ivass and Antitrust will now have to verify to understand if the crossing of armchairs is only a matter of technical skills (which the new investors wanted to keep in Facile.it, keeping Genovese on the board) or if 'is something else.
THE ANSWER OF FACILE.IT
Facile.it stated that "the company's work is based on total transparency and consumer protection in full compliance with current legislation and the IVASS regulation". Facile.it on 18 December appointed Tobias Stuber CEO, Mauro Giacobbe Chairman and Diego Palano General Manager. Tobias Stuber is a highly experienced German manager who arrives in Italy and leads Facile.it after a long consultancy career in Bain & Company and seven years in Check24.de, a German financial services comparator for which he held the role of Managing Director and head of the auto insurance sector.
STUBER'S STATEMENTS
"Facile.it has a very strong brand and an extremely clear value proposition: to allow its users to easily save time and money" , said Stuber , declaring “Very happy to join the excellent team of Facile.it and to work to make comparing and saving even easier for our users. With my background and experience I am confident I will be able to contribute to the continued success and future growth of the company ".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/la-vicenda-prima-assicurazioni-facile-it/ on Sun, 27 Dec 2020 07:14:16 +0000.