Caltagirone to snub Generali AGM to signal discontent -sources (updated)

Caltagirone SpA

28/04/2021 15:40

* Move brings to light underlying shareholder tensions 
    * Generali will name new board next year
    * Caltagirone upped Generali stake recently

 (Adds sources, background)
    By Stefano Bernabei, Claudia Cristoferi and Gianluca
Semeraro
    MILAN, April 28 (Reuters) - A leading Generali  GASI.MI 
investor, Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, will snub the company's
AGM on Thursday in the first public sign that the businessman is
unhappy with the balance of power among shareholders, three
sources close to the matter said.
    Tensions among investors in Italy's largest insurer have
been brewing behind closed doors, but are expected to intensify
as Generali kicks off a months-long process to appoint a new
board in spring next year, the sources told Reuters.
    Caltagirone, whose business empire spans construction to
publishing, recently raised his Generali stake while also
building a holding in its top investor Mediobanca  MDBI.MI .
    With a 12.9% stake, Mediobanca is the leading shareholder in
Generali, followed by Caltagirone with 5.6%.
    By not taking part in Thursday's annual meeting, Caltagirone
wanted to signal that he would like to have a bigger say on
strategic decisions at Generali, the sources said.
    Both Caltagirone and Leonardo Del Vecchio, who is Generali's
third-largest investor with a 4.8% stake and the single biggest
shareholder in Mediobanca, have criticised some of Generali's
strategic moves in the past year, sources have previously said.
    The latest flashpoint was Generali's decision to enter
exclusive talks to buy rival AXA's  AXAF.PA  non-life assets in
Malaysia.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2M61CU
    Caltagirone, who is a director at Generali, did not attend
the meeting that approved the move backed by Mediobanca. Del
Vecchio voted against it, the sources said. 
    Del Vecchio and Caltagirone are frustrated that Generali's
European rivals AXA and Allianz  ALVG.DE  have market
capitalisations, respectively, of two and three times that of
Generali.
    However, a source close to Del Vecchio said the eyewear
magnate would take part in the AGM, which will be held remotely
due to COVID-19, and had already filed his vote.
    The sources said Caltagirone's decision not to attend should
not be considered as hostile to Generali CEO Philippe Donnet,
whose mandate comes up for renewal next spring.
    Donnet's reappointment is in the hands of Generali's board
which for the first time will submit its own slate of
candidates, after the insurer last year changed its by-laws.
    Previously Mediobanca would file a slate of nominees to be
voted on, effectively picking the CEO and chairman.
    On Thursday, Generali shareholders will be asked to sign off
on the financial statements for 2020, a year in which the
insurer posted a record operating profit despite the pandemic,
and a proposal to pay a two-tranche dividend of 1.47 euros per
share.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2L9173
    Caltagirone's decision not to attend the AGM was first
reported by la Repubblica newspaper. 

 (Reporting by Stefano Bernabei, Claudia Cristoferi and Gianluca
Semeraro; Writing by Valentina Za; Editing by Alexander Smith
and Elaine Hardcastle)
 ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;))