Delfin is ready to increase its stake in Generali up to 20%. He said so Francesco Milleri, CEO of EssilorLuxottica and president of Delfin, the holding company of the Del Vecchio family, in an interview with Sun 24 hours in which he spoke not only about Essilux's doubled profits, but also about the main financial operations underway, of which Delfin is the absolute protagonist.
Milleri on Generali: “Ready to go up to 20%”
After having obtained the green light from Ivass to remain above 10% as a result of a buyback of the insurance group, Delfin is about to get the green light from the authorities to increase its share price up to 20%. in Generali. “There are still a few steps to go, but I would say that we will soon be ready to round out our share,” Milleri said. Delfin currently holds a 9,8% share of Generali, which rises above 10% due to the buyback.
Generali-Natixis: “Some elements of perplexity remain”
“It is said that the French at Natixis had previously tried to do a similar operation with many other players in the sector, but without success,” Milleri told Sun, speaking of the agreement between Generali and the French company aimed at creating a European champion of asset management. An agreement strongly desired by CEO Philippe Donnet, but which makes Delfin and Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone turn up their noses.There remains some element of perplexity regarding Generali – continued the manager despite the reassurances that arrived in recent days from the insurance company – it will be essential to know the conditions and the actual synergies between the two entities as well as the governance rules to correctly evaluate the strategic value of this operation in the long term. We always look favorably on anything that is needed to grow, but we will see”, he said
Milleri's statements come two weeks after the presentation of the new Generali's industrial plan and from the statements of Donnet who said he was ready for a renewal of his mandate, expiring in spring, in view of the assembly scheduled for next May 8. The Lion has already declared that the Board of Directors will not present its own list of candidates due to the new rules on corporate governance provided for by the Capital Bill. Caltagirone is evaluating whether to oppose the reconfirmation of Donnet with alternative candidates, as he had done unsuccessfully three years ago together with Delfin.
Milleri on Mps-Mediobanca: “Operation with strong rationales, could generate significant capital gains”
During the interview with Sun 24 Hours, Milleri also spoke about theoops 13,3 billion of euros launched by Monte dei Paschi on Mediobanca. Delfin is a shareholder of both companies, with a 9,8% stake in MPS and 19,8% in Piazzetta Cuccia.
“From what we know the operation seems to have strong rationales in integrating two highly complementary financial entities with very similar stock market values net of Mediobanca's participation in Generali. I don't see any critical issues”, Milleri said, also explaining that “it is one of the potential combinations that will not produce social impacts with job cuts”. According to the president of Delfin, moreover, Mediobanca “would benefit from making a dimensional leap".
Answering the question about Delfin's possible support for the operation, the manager said: “We will be able to better evaluate the operation when all the information is available, but we believe that The MPS-Mediobanca merger could free up significant capital gains and ensure that our participations begin to generate synergies between them."
Milleri on Unicredit: “At the moment no initiative on sale”
In the interview he also stated that Delfin has no “no initiative taken at the moment” on the approximately 3% stake in Unicredit, following rumours circulating on Tuesday regarding the fact that the Del Vecchio family's holding company could sell its stake in Unicredit through an accelerated book building or other formulas, thus dissolving any direct link with the bank."
Milleri also praised “the excellent work done by Andrea Orcel” which “brought” the share in Delfin’s hands “to reach almost two billion in value”. “It is clear – he added – that in front of these numbers the task of responsible administrators is always to make evaluations, but they are the same ones we do for all our other investments”.
