UniCredit Supports Caltagirone’s Board Candidates at Generali
UniCredit SpA plans to back a minority list of board candidates at Assicurazioni Generali SpA, aligning with investor Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, a long-time critic of Generali’s CEO Philippe Donnet, according to Bloomberg. The move suggests UniCredit is open to changes in Generali’s governance.
At a meeting on Wednesday, UniCredit agreed to vote in favor of Caltagirone’s list, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A UniCredit spokesperson declined to comment. Support from the Milan-based lender could strengthen Caltagirone’s position at Generali, where he has previously attempted to remove Donnet and opposed an asset management agreement announced earlier this year.
Generali shareholders met in Trieste on Thursday to elect a new board for a three-year term. The vote follows ongoing tensions between management and key investors, with Mediobanca SpA, Generali’s largest shareholder, on one side, and the families of the late Leonardo Del Vecchio and Caltagirone, the second- and third-largest shareholders, respectively, on the other.
Both sides proposed competing slates of candidates. Mediobanca’s list includes Donnet and chairman Andrea Sironi, while Caltagirone’s list does not include candidates for the CEO or chair roles but could gain an equal number of seats depending on the vote outcome.
The disagreements have escalated this year following Generali’s agreement with French banking group BPCE to merge their asset management operations, creating one of Europe’s largest asset managers. Some board members aligned with Caltagirone have voiced opposition to the deal.
Caltagirone’s Generali stake, estimated at around €3.4 billion, makes up a significant portion of his portfolio. He and the Del Vecchio family are also large shareholders in Mediobanca and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, advocating for a merger between the two banks to form a third major Italian lender.
UniCredit is also pursuing a potential acquisition of Banco BPM SpA, in which Caltagirone holds a minority stake. However, government-imposed conditions could pose challenges for the transaction, Bloomberg reported.
