Generali's No.3 investor Caltagirone withholds backing for 2022 accounts -sources

Caltagirone SpA

28/04/2023 11:59

MILAN, April 28 (Reuters) - Italian tycoon Francesco
Gaetano Caltagirone, the third-largest investor in Generali
 GASI.MI , on Friday withheld his approval for the insurer's
2022 accounts, two sources said, after attempting to bring about
a management shake-up last year.
    Caltagirone led a group of rebel Generali investors who a
year ago challenged the board's decision to hand a new term to
CEO Philippe Donnet. They proposed an alternative candidate for
the job but lost out in the April 2022 shareholder vote.
    At the time, Caltagirone, who gained three seats on
Generali's 13-strong board, said he would continue to seek
reform, adding that foreign investors who had backed Donnet
might not have fully grasped the need to revamp the insurer.
    On Friday, last year's accounts gained the support of around
90% of shareholders who voted at Friday's annual general
meeting, while 9.9% of voters abstained, Generali's Chairman
Andrea Sironi said.
    Details of shareholders who voted against will only become
available with publication of the AGM's minutes. 
    Two sources with knowledge of the situation said that
Caltagirone had abstained.
    Generali posted its best operating profit ever in 2022 and 
net profit rose 2.3% to 2.9 billion euros ($3.2 billion) despite
a 154-million-euro hit from its Russian investments. 
    In April last year, at the height of the shareholder clash,
the 2021 accoounts got around 85% of AGM votes.
    Caltagirone, who holds around 6% of Generali, last year had
the backing of late billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio, whose
Delfin holding company owns 9.8% of Generali.
    Italy's Benetton family, with a 4.8% stake, also challenged
Donnet who had the support of Generali's top shareholder
Mediobanca  MDBI.MI , which holds 13% of the insurer. ($1 =
0.9102 euros)

 (Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro and Stefano Bernabei, editing
by Valentina Za and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((gianluca.semeraro@tr.com; +39 06 80 307 741;))