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Factbox-Who’s who in Italy’s Generali drama – Metro US

Factbox-Who’s who in Italy’s Generali drama

FILE PHOTO: Philippe Donnet, CEO of the Italian insurance company
FILE PHOTO: Philippe Donnet, CEO of the Italian insurance company Generali, is seen before shareholders meeting in Trieste

MILAN (Reuters) – Generali shareholders will vote to select a chief executive and board of directors on Friday.

Philippe Donnet, who has been CEO at Europe’s third-largest insurer since 2016, is running for reappointment with the backing of Generali’s outgoing board and its leading shareholder Mediobanca.

Donnet’s candidacy is opposed by Italian tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, Generali’s second-largest investor, who has proposed former Generali executive Luciano Cirina instead.

Following is a summary of the main stakeholders and their stances:

– IN FAVOUR OF DONNET –

MEDIOBANCA Milanese bank holds 12.8% of Generali, which accounts

for a third of its profit. To counter challenger

investors at AGM it has secured a temporary 17.2%

voting stake.

DE AGOSTINI Italian publisher has praised Donnet and is expected to

back his reappointment before completing planned

disposal of its 1.44% Generali stake.

NORGES Generali shareholders Union Investment and Deka

BANK, CPP, Investment have both told Reuters they back Donnet.

CALPERS, Proxy voting records show that Norway’s sovereign

SBA wealth fund Norges Bank, U.S. investors CalPERS and SBA

FLORIDA, Florida, Canada’s CPP are also in favour.[L5N2WK2BO]

UNION Swiss foundation Ethos, comprising more than 220

INVESTMENT, pension funds, has recommended a pro-Donnet vote.

DEKA

– AGAINST DONNET –

FRANCESCO 79-year-old construction and newspaper magnate has a

GAETANO 9.95% Generali stake, which he has gradually increased

CALTAGIRONE in recent years. Before stepping down in January,

Caltagirone had been a Generali board director since

2007, also taking on the role of vice chair in 2010. He

will likely have a seat on the board again even if his

bid to oust Donnet fails.

LEONARDO Billionaire founder of Italian eyewear giant Luxottica

DEL is third-largest shareholder in Generali with a stake

VECCCHIO of around 8%. Del Vecchio, who is also the biggest

investor in Mediobanca with a near 20% stake, has sided

with Caltagirone.

FONDAZIONE Banking foundation with a 1.7% stake supports

CRT Caltagirone’s plan for Generali.

BENETTON With 4% Generali stake and close ties to both camps,

FAMILY Benettons are set to back rival slate and want to

promote dialogue and cooperation after AGM.

CASSA Italian lawyers’ pension institute is reported to back

FORENSE the rebel billionaires with its 1% stake.

– YET TO DECIDE –

INSTITUTIONAL Hold in aggregate 35% of the insurer. Their AGM

INVESTORS attendance in recent years has been at around 20% but

this year overall attendance is set to be markedly

higher. Their vote is usually oriented by the

recommendations of leading governance advisers

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass

Lewis which have both backed Donnet. Fund shareholders

include BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Vanguard,

Thornburg Investment Management.

A group of 11 institutional investors holding 0.64% of

Generali has filed a separate slate, which does not

include a CEO candidate.

RETAIL Small savers made up mostly of wealthy families in

SHAREHOLDERS Italy’s north east hold around 22% of Generali. For

retail shareholders the focus is the dividend policy,

which Donnet in December pledged to boost.

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro and Valentina Za; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Alexander Smith and Keith Weir)