Why Banca Finint studies Cattolica Assicurazioni
Cattolica Assicurazioni stock shines on the stock market after journalistic rumors about a Banca Finint entry into the insurance company.
Cattolica Assicurazioni flies on the stock exchange, the stock goes up by more than 9% to a maximum per session of € 4.69, on the assumption of Banca Finint's entry into the capital of the Venetian insurance company.
Enrico Marchi, a strong man of Finint, would be working on the establishment of a consortium that could take over a stake of about 10% of Cattolica, acquiring, if not all, a large portion of its own shares (12.3% of the capital) of which the company took charge following the exercise of the withdrawal after the transformation into a spa.
But what is really cooking between Finint and Cattolica? For now there would have been only informal contacts and the dossier would be managed directly by Enrico Marchi, Il Sole 24 Ore wrote today .
FININT'S NEW INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY
“In the last few weeks, a new long-valued investment opportunity has appeared on Finint's table: the entry into Cattolica's capital with a significant stake. And from this point of view, discussions with the regulators have already begun because the idea would be to promote an amicable operation, towards the company and its current significant shareholder, the Generali of Philippe Donnet which hold 24.4% ", wrote the Confindustria newspaper.
INTEREST FOR CATHOLICS
As for the reasons that would have pushed Finint to move in this direction, there are basically two, according to the reconstruction of the Sole 24 Ore : "On the one hand, in a territory that in recent years has seen practically" destroyed "the entire financial services sector, preserve the last remaining garrison and on the other hand contribute to making a crucial reality for the Veneto even more solid ”.
Naturally, adds the Confindustria newspaper, the spring that would have triggered the interest, on the financial level, would have been the next transformation into a joint-stock company of the insurance group.
DETAILS OF THE OPERATION
As for the structure of the transaction, the intention would be to involve other local and international investors in the match and to target the package of treasury shares that Cattolica purchased following the exercise of the withdrawal by a slice of shareholders cooperators. At present, this is just over 10% of the company. A qualified participation for which the company has spent around 112 million euros but which today is worth just under 80 million on the stock market. The price, therefore, becomes a key variable of the transaction, added the Sun.
THE GENERAL UNCOGNITA
One wonders how Generali will evaluate any offer. Finint and the consortium that will accompany the holding company are in fact an “alternative” shareholder to the Trieste company, although on paper both pursue the same objective, namely the relaunch of the Verona group.
THE CONTACT POINTS BETWEEN CATTOLICA AND FININT
Between Cattolica and Finint there are already some points of contact. The second, for example, through a Finanziaria Internazionale Investments Sgr, manages two real estate funds controlled by the Verona company, namely Euripide and Perseide (more focused on renewables). Furthermore – points out the Sun – it manages the closed-end fund "Ca'Tron H-Campus", also controlled by Cattolica and participated by Cdp, under which there are the land owned by Cattolica Agricola and Cattolica Beni Immobili on which the H complex stands. -Campus.
THE 2020 RESULTS OF THE SUBSIDIARY TUA ASSICURAZIONI
Meanwhile, the board of directors of the subsidiary TUA Assicurazioni, which met yesterday under the chairmanship of Paolo Bedoni, analyzed the preliminary results for 2020 and reaffirmed the strategic guidelines for the three-year period 2021-23. 2020 will close with a direct collection of gross written premiums of approximately 278 million and a net technical result including profits attributed by finance, which will be in a range between 18 and 20 million (against a loss of 4 million in 2019) .
2020 of Tua Assicurazioni (Cattolica group) will close with direct income from gross premiums written of approximately 278 million, stable compared to 280 million in 2019, and a net technical result including profits attributed to finance in a range between 18 and 20 million euros, compared to -4 million a year ago. These are the preliminary results of the company focused on families, professionals and SMEs. "We are particularly satisfied with the preliminary data for 2020, which demonstrate our solidity, strength and the ability of Tua to respond, also thanks to its commercial partners and the ability to renew the agency network, in a way that is ready for the difficult pandemic crisis" , is the comment of the managing director Nazareno Cerni.
THE 2021-2023 ROLLING PLAN
The rolling 2021-2023 plan, approved by the board of directors in January, presents a strategy based on strengthening the weight of the elementary classes through initiatives for non-motor products; on the development of technical excellence through portfolio clustering based on elements of agency profitability; on sustainability through particular initiatives aimed at enhancing development from a green perspective. Tua, adds the note, will increasingly be characterized as a company active in 'specialty lines', through a more intense collaboration with CattRe, the specialty lines vehicle specially created by the Cattolica group in Luxembourg.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/perche-banca-finint-studia-cattolica-assicurazioni/ on Wed, 24 Feb 2021 10:44:42 +0000.