Generali's Donnet faces internal rival to CEO crown

Caltagirone Editore SpA

16/03/2022 13:14

By Gianluca Semeraro
    MILAN, March 16 (Reuters) - Generali  GASI.MI  CEO Philippe
Donnet will face a rival from within his own ranks when
shareholders vote on the leadership of Italy's largest insurer
next month.
    Its No. 2 shareholder has proposed Luciano Cirina,
Generali's head of Austria and central and eastern Europe, as
CEO, a role Frenchman Donnet has held since 2016.
    His backer is Italian tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone,
Generali's second largest shareholder with a stake of around 8%,
according to the latest public data.
    A source with knowledge of the situation said there some 
discomfort within Generali when Cirina's name emerged.
    "Donnet did not want to believe it when he read it," the 
source said.
    Cirina, based in Prague, has been a member of the Generali
Group Management Committee since 2016.
    "Under his leadership, that area has posted the strongest
growth in recent years," Caltagirone said in a statement late on
Tuesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2VI66U
    "Hailing from (Generali's hometown of) Trieste, Cirina has
more than 30 years of experience in insurance and is considered
by many within the group as the natural successor to the current
CEO."
    Generali declined to comment on Cirina's candidacy on
Wednesday.
    The company's board has put Donnet forward for a third
mandate at a shareholder meeting set for late April. 
    The company confirmed on Wednesday that the meeting would be
conducted remotely to limit travel due to the coronavirus
crisis.
    Caltagirone and fellow Italian tycoon Leonardo Del Vecchio 
are opposing Donnet's reappointment as they challenge top
shareholder investment bank Mediobanca.
    Caltagirone proposed Claudio Costamagna, a former Goldman
Sachs banker and former chairman of Italian state investor CDP,
to chair Generali's board.
    However, the proposed chairman and CEO are only numbers five
and six on the Caltagirone list, meaning they are likely to miss
out on board seats if the slate fails to win majority backing
from investors. Caltagirone himself tops the list. 
    Under Donnet, Generali has delivered higher total returns
for shareholders than rivals such as AXA  AXAF.PA  and Allianz
 ALVG.DE . 
    Strengthening Donnet's hand, Generali on Tuesday posted a
record operating profit for 2021.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2VI1SV

 (Writing by Keith Weir; editing by Jason Neely)