Generali shareholders will vote to pick a chief govt and board of administrators on April 29.
Philippe Donnet, who has been CEO at Europe’s third-largest insurer since 2016, is operating for reappointment with the backing of Generali’s outgoing board and its main shareholder Mediobanca.
Donnet’s candidacy is opposed by Italian tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, Generali’s second-largest investor, who has proposed former Generali govt Luciano Cirina as a substitute.
Following is a abstract of the principle stakeholders and their stances:
IN FAVOUR OF DONNET
Mediobanca
Milanese financial institution holds 12.8% of Generali, which accounts for a 3rd of its revenue. To counter challenger buyers at AGM it has secured a brief 17.2% voting stake.
De Agostini
Italian writer has praised Donnet and is predicted to again his reappointment earlier than finishing deliberate disposal of its 1.44% Generali stake.
Norges Financial institution, CPP, Calpers, SBA Florida, Union Funding, Deka
Generali shareholders Union Funding and Deka Funding have each informed Reuters they again Donnet.
Proxy voting data present that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund Norges Financial institution, U.S. buyers CalPERS and SBA Florida, Canada’s CPP are additionally in favor. Swiss basis Ethos, comprising greater than 220 pension funds, has advisable a pro-Donnet vote.
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AGAINST DONNET
Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone
79-year-old development and newspaper magnate has a 9.95% Generali stake, which he has steadily elevated lately. Earlier than stepping down in January, Caltagirone had been a Generali board director since 2007, additionally taking up the position of vice chair in 2010. He’ll probably have a seat on the board once more even when his bid to oust Donnet fails.
Leonardo Del Vecchio
Billionaire founding father of Italian eyewear big Luxottica is third-largest shareholder in Generali with a stake of round 8%. Del Vecchio, who can also be the most important investor in Mediobanca with a close to 20% stake, has sided with Caltagirone.
Fondazione CRT
Banking basis with a 1.7% stake helps Caltagirone’s plan for Generali.
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YET TO DECIDE
Benetton Household
With 4% Generali stake and shut ties to each camps, Benettons are set to again rival slate and need to promote dialog and cooperation after AGM.
Institutional Buyers
Maintain in mixture 35% of the insurer. Their AGM attendance lately has been at round 20% however this yr total attendance is ready to be markedly greater. Their vote is normally oriented by the suggestions of main governance advisers Institutional Shareholder Providers (ISS) and Glass Lewis which have each backed Donnet. Fund shareholders embody BlackRock, Constancy Investments, Vanguard, Thornburg Funding Administration.
A bunch of 11 institutional buyers holding 0.64% of Generali has filed a separate slate, which doesn’t embody a CEO candidate.
Retail Shareholders
Small savers made up principally of rich households in Italy’s northeast maintain round 22% of Generali. For retail shareholders the main target is the dividend coverage, which Donnet in December pledged to spice up.
(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro and Valentina Za; enhancing by Kirsten Donovan and Alexander Smith)
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