Billionaire Generali investor weighs candidates for CEO challenge

Acea SpA

06/02/2025 15:17

* 
      Caltagirone led shareholder attempt to oust CEO Donnet in
2022
    

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      Weighs Enel, Poste, Acea CEOs as alternative candidates 
    

        * 
      No decision taken, Enel says CEO not free to take other
roles
    

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      Acea says CEO's mandate ends in 2026, focused on business
plan
    

  
 (Adds statement from ACEA spox in paragraph 12-13)
    By Gianluca Semeraro and Elvira Pollina
       MILAN, Feb 6 (Reuters) - One of Generali's  GASI.MI 
biggest investors is considering challenging the reappointment
of longstanding CEO Philippe Donnet in May and is weighing
potential alternative candidates to lead Italy's biggest
insurer, four sources close to the matter said.
    Three years ago Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, an Italian
construction and publishing billionaire with a 6.9% stake in
Generali led a failed attempt to replace Donnet, who had backing
from the insurer's board and its biggest shareholder Mediobanca
 MDBI.MI .
    Caltagirone, as well as the late billionaire Leonardo Del
Vecchio, has criticised Donnet, at the helm of the insurer since
2016, for failing to grow Generali sufficiently.
    More recently the two investors expressed reservations about
a proposed asset management joint venture between Generali and
France's BPCE over concerns about the influence the French side
could have in the partnership. 
    Caltagirone has not yet decided on his strategy at a
shareholder vote on May 8 to elect a new Generali board and
could still opt not to nominate a new CEO candidate, one of the
four sources said.
    But, he is considering proposing alternative candidates
including current Enel  ENEI.MI  CEO Flavio Cattaneo, who in
2022 was appointed as a Generali director among Caltagirone's
representatives, three of the sources told Reuters.
    Cattaneo is expected to be put forward again by Caltagirone
as a director. However, proposing him as a candidate for CEO
would be more problematic given his current role.
    A spokesperson for Enel said his current mandate at Enel
does not expire until 2026, "therefore the Enel CEO is not free
to assume other roles".
    "This rumour is totally groundless as well as destabilising,
also taking into account that Enel is a listed company," the
Enel spokesperson said.
    There are similar issues with two other candidates who are
under the attention of Caltagirone, the sources said.
    Caltagirone has good relations with national postal service
Poste Italiane  PST.MI  CEO Matteo Del Fante and Rome utility
Acea  ACE.MI  boss Fabrizio Palermo, the sources said, adding he
is considering either as a replacement for Donnet.
    Representatives for Poste and Caltagirone declined to
comment. A spokesperson for Acea said Palermo's mandate expires
in 2026 and he was focused on the company's business plan.
    "This rumour is totally groundless as well as destabilising,
also taking into account that Acea is a listed company," the
spokesperson said.
    Donnet has said he is ready to stay on for another term,
but, unlike the last time round, he is not being put forward by
Generali's board after Italy's government changed corporate
rules on succession making it harder for an outgoing board to
nominate candidates.
    The uncertainty over Generali's leadership comes as top
shareholder Mediobanca faces a hostile takeover bid by Monte dei
Paschi di Siena (MPS)  BMPS.MI , a state-backed bank in which
Caltagirone built a stake since November.
    In rejecting the MPS bid on January 28, Mediobanca flagged
the cross-shareholdings among MPS, Generali and Mediobanca.
    Caltagirone and the heirs of Del Vecchio together own 17% of
Generali, 27% of Mediobanca and 15% of MPS.
    Three years ago, Caltagirone and Del Vecchio were defeated
in a shareholder vote after putting forward former Generali
executive Luciano Cirina as their CEO candidate. 
    In a surprise move that gives CEO Andrea Orcel weight in the
potential clash between Mediobanca and Caltagirone, UniCredit
 CRDI.MI  has disclosed a 4.1% equity stake in Generali.  

 (Reporting by Stefano Bernabei, Giuseppe Fonte, Francesca
Landini, Elvira Pollina, Gianluca Semeraro; Writing by Valentina
Za; Editing by Giselda Vagnoni and Elaine Hardcastle)
 ((gianluca.semeraro@tr.com; +39 06 80 307 741;))