Two leading Generali investors would could seek new CEO -sources (updated)

Caltagirone SpA

11/09/2021 12:03

(Updates with comments, detail)
    By Gianluca Semeraro and Claudia Cristoferi
    MILAN, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Two leading Generali  GASI.MI 
investors are ready to push to replace current CEO Philippe
Donnet if the top Italian insurer's board fails to reach an
accord to keep him in the job, three sources close to the matter
said.
    The Trieste-based insurer is due to appoint a new board next
spring and speculation over Donnet's future has mounted in
recent months as tensions among shareholders simmer.
    In a sign battle lines are being drawn, the two Generali
investors, Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and Leonardo Del
Vecchio, on Saturday disclosed a pact to consult over decisions
concerning Generali. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2QD03Y.
    Donnet's reappointment is in the hands of Generali's board
which for the first time can submit its own slate of board
candidates after the insurer changed its by-laws last year.
    The sources said the two businessmen, who struck the pact
over a combined 10.95% stake, are ready to file their own list
of board nominees. The list would not include the current CEO
though he is willing to run for another mandate, they said.
    Donnet is already working on a new business plan for
Generali due in December after steering the company through the
COVID-19 crisis and keeping it on track to fully meet goals
under the current plan through to end-2021.
    Donnet currently enjoys the backing of Alberto Nagel, the
CEO of Milanese bank Mediobanca  MDBI.MI , which is Generali's
top investor with a 12.9% stake, as well as many board members
at the insurer. 
    Del Vecchio and Caltagirone are also, respectively, the
first- and second-biggest investor in Mediobanca.
    Over the past year, however, both Caltagirone, whose
businesses span construction to publishing, and Del Vecchio, the
founder of Ray-Ban owner Luxottica, have been critical of
Donnet's strategy which they deem too cautious in seeking merger
and acquisition opportunities.
    According to one of the sources, the two businessmen could
also propose a new chairman with a well-established
international profile to oversee Generali's growth strategies. 
    A compromise among shareholders is still possible, another
of the sources said, and one solution could be the appointment
of a managing director backed by both Del Vecchio and
Caltagirone who would work alongside Donnet.
    However, positions are still far apart, the sources said,
ahead of a key meeting on Sept. 27 when Generali's board will
kick off proceedings to submit its own list of nominees.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2PA167
    Before that, Generali's appointments committee will meet on
Sept. 14.
    

 (Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi and Gianluca Semeraro, editing
by Valentina Za and Ros Russell)
 ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;))