Piazza Affari sniffs the air of battle over Mediobanca, rewarded by an increase in the order of 7% after Leonardo Del Vecchio's request to the ECB for authorization to exceed the 10% threshold and reach up to 20% of the institution despite the firm opposition of Alberto Nagel. It goes up even if in a more contained way Generali +3,16%, the real object of the dispute: if Del Vecchio, with a strong 4,7% stake in Leone, becomes the sole reference shareholder of Piazzetta Cuccia, which controls about 13% of the company, the king of glasses could put a serious stake on the future of the company which is, among other things, one of the main caskets in which Italians keep their savings through life insurance policies and funds. Also for this the political world has already made its voice heard, anticipating any sorties under the banner of Italian spirit, which nevertheless seem bizarre in light of the fact that Del Vecchio, 84 years old, is a full-blooded Milanese, as are his six children (born of three marriages) while the financial advisor of the operation is none other than the former Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli.
But the suspicion is supported by the previous history of Mr. Luxottica. Both in the case of Foncière des Regions, merged after the purchase into the real estate empire of the former Martinitt, both on the occasion of the merger between Luxottica and Essilor, Del Vecchio first strengthened his shareholding and then proceed to wed a French partner from a position of strength. The strategy, it is suspected, could be replicated on occasion an integration with Axa which, moreover, starts from a market value more than double that of Generali. Hypothetical and, at least for now, imaginative considerations, also because leadership in an industrial sector is one thing, the control of one of the most influential button rooms, which is the Italian investment bank par excellence. Without being silent the most obvious problems: the age of the entrepreneur, who arrived at the age of 84 without having prepared a line of succession known to the markets; the absence of a tradition of shared governance, amplified by the limited experience in the sector, underlined by the comment from Citigroup which foresees volatility on the stock "until the objectives are clear".
Morgan Stanley, after noting that Frankfurt's opinion via the Bank of Italy will probably only arrive in September he stressed that the presence of an industrial shareholder at 20% would be a source of "uncertainty for the institute". In short, there is no shortage of obstacles, but both the lowest level of quotations (6,20 euros, against around 11 euros at the end of October) and the air of novelty circulating in the system conspire in favor of the plan: on the one hand, the battle around to Ubi, on the other, under the pressure of the EU authorities, the launch of the bad bank for MPS. All under the influence of the innovations envisaged by the plan on recovery funds, called "Next Generation EU" which serves to awaken the sleeping spirits of our own capitalism. In this setting, one cannot fail to appreciate the initiative of a great entrepreneur, ready to take risks and get back into the game with the spirit of a boy.
