Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone returns to the capital of Generali but it is the timing that counts. The Roman entrepreneur, who is now the vice president of the leading Italian insurance company, bought around 3 million shares during the week, equal to 0,2% of the capital of the Lion of Trieste, with an outlay of 52 million euros which it made it possible to round off the stake it holds in Generali bringing it to 5,8% and to confirm itself as the leading private shareholder behind Mediobanca. But it is the timing that is striking, because the strengthening of Caltagirone comes just on the eve of the company's board which must decide whether to present for the first time a list of candidates for the spring shareholders' meeting that is an expression of the outgoing management, according to the Mediobanca model and as the CEO Philip Donnet claims, or whether to follow the classic method with a list that takes greater account of the shareholder structure, as the Caltagirone, Del Vecchio and Benetton shareholders would like,
Caltagirone's move, which makes no secret of aiming for the Presidency of the company to crown its long commitment in the sanctuaries of Italian finance, has the sense of putting pressure on Donnet and causing him to give up presenting a list of the outgoing board of directors, leaving more space for private partners. The circle therefore tightens around the top of the Lion but also on the Generali-Mediobanca axis and in fact, as Il Sole 24 Ore reported this morning, it is not excluded that in the next few days Caltagirone will exercise the purchase options it has in Piazzetta Cuccia, rising from 3 to 5% of the capital of the Milanese institute and making his line for Generali weigh, even indirectly.
