Generali investor proposes naming insurer's Austria chief as CEO (updated)

Caltagirone SpA

15/03/2022 18:56

(Adds details)
    By Stefano Bernabei
    ROME, March 15 (Reuters) - A leading Generali  GASI.MI 
shareholder on Tuesday proposed naming the Italian insurer's
head of Austria as its new chief executive, in a challenge to
the reappointment of Philippe Donnet.
    Generali's outgoing board has put forward Donnet for a third
mandate as CEO ahead of a shareholder vote to elect a new board
at the end of April.
    Italian tycoons Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and Leonardo
Del Vecchio who are, respectively, Generali's second- and
third-largest investors, are opposing the reappointment as they
challenge the insurer's single largest investor, investment bank
Mediobanca  MDBI.MI .
    Unveiling his own slate of nominees for the board,
Caltagirone on Tuesday said in a statement he was proposing
Luciano Cirina, Generali's current head of Austria and central
and eastern Europe, for the position of chief executive.
    "Under his leadership, that area has posted the stronger
growth in recent years," Caltagirone said.
    "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, enjoying great respect by all staff." 
    Under Donnet, Generali has delivered higher total returns
for shareholders than rivals such as AXA  AXAF.PA  and Allianz
 ALVG.DE  and analysts had said Caltagirone needed a strong name
to challenge a CEO who has delivered on targets.
    Strengthening Donnet's hand, Generali on Tuesday posted a
record operating profit for 2021.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2VI1SV
    Caltagirone also proposed Claudio Costamagna, a former
Goldman Sachs banker and former chairman of Italian state
investor CDP, to chair Generali's board.
    Calatagiorne has a stake of just under 8% in the insurer,
according to latest available data. After stepping down from
Generali's board earlier this year he is no longer obligated to
disclose his stakebuilding unless he crosses the 10% threshold.
    A representative for Del Vecchio has also quit Generali's
board. The two tycoons and a third smaller Generali investor
held a combined 16% stake in Generali and had struck a
shareholder pact which they have now dissolved to avoid drawing
regulatory scrutiny.
    To counter their weight at the April AGM, Mediobanca has
secured a temporary 17.2% voting stake for the April meeting by
borrowing shares to beef up its 12.8% holding.

 (Reporting by Stefano Bernabei, writing by Giulio Piovaccari;
editing by Valentina Za and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com))