Generali has not yet found the replacement in the board of directors resigned Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, but between the majority led by CEO Philippe Donnet and the minority inspired by Caltagirone itself, something seems to be moving and could lead to white smoke or a new fight within a few days.
Generali: the first attempt to replace Caltagirone was unsuccessful
Yesterday the first attempt to jointly replace the outgoing Caltagirone failed. The nomination committee has proposed to the Leone board of directors to vote the first name of the unelected on the Caltagirone list in the person of Roberta Neri, former manager of the Treasury and former CEO of ENAV, but Flavio Cattaneo and Marina Brogi, minority directors, voted against and Neri has renounced to join the board.
The Caltagirone list wants Cirinà on the board
The arguments of the Caltagirone list obviously do not concern the person of Roberta Neri, esteemed by all, but take their cue from a literal interpretation of the statute which suggests not to alter the gender balance (in Caltagirone – claims the minority – a man should take over and the first not elected are Claudio Costamagna and Luciano Cirinà), but he hides a substantial disagreement. The minority makes no secret that its ideal candidate for the board of directors is Cirinà, the former top manager and former right-hand man of Donnet who surprisingly sided with the Caltagirone list and who was consequently dismissed for just cause by Generali.
However, Cirinà's candidacy is divisive and, at present, is completely unlikely the Donnet majority would accept to vote for her on the board. In any case, a mandate was given to the Appointments Committee to propose a new candidate for the next board meeting.
Generali: first step forward on committees
However, the lack of an agreement on Caltagirone's replacement on the board does not mean that the parties do not try to get closer to give stability and serenity to the company that Donnet wants to project as soon as possible towards the implementation of the binding new business plan. A signal to this effect arrived yesterday with the establishment of the Investment Committee to "prepare mergers and acquisitions, alliances and industrial partnerships, with a value of no less than 250 million euros", as Caltagirone himself asked.
But it is on the nominations that the game is played and only in the next few days will we know how it will end.
