The battle for control of the Generals gets underway. Yesterday evening Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone took pen and paper and in a letter made official his resignation from the Lion of Trieste.
After more than 12 years at the top of the company, the Roman entrepreneur has therefore left the position of vice president of the group, doing so in a particularly delicate phase for the company, of which he holds over 8% of the capital, called shortly to an upcoming renewal of the board of directors. Renewal with respect to which Caltagirone, in line with Leonardo Del Vecchio and the Crt Foundation, has repeatedly expressed its dissent. So much so as to have given life to an agreement with the other two shareholders to be able to propose, at the next meeting at the end of April, an alternative project to that advocated by the current board of directors, both on the industrial front and on the governance level. As for the reasons for his resignation, Caltagirone has repeatedly hinted that he no longer wants to participate in a board where in fact the decisions are first discussed in other forums.
The motivations
The company added that Caltagirone motivated the decision “recalling a framework in which his person would be clearly opposed, prevented from making his own critical contribution and from ensuring adequate control, referring to the working methods of the board of directors and in particular : upon presentation and approval of the strategic plan; the procedure for the presentation of a list by the Board; the methods of application of the legislation on privileged information; to the disclosure on relations with the media and significant shareholders, even if holders of shareholdings below the significance thresholds “.
The regret of Galateri di Genola
The president Gabriele Galateri di Genola declared: «I express deep regret and surprise for the decision taken by cav. Caltagirone. The reasons given can only be categorically rejected as the company has always conducted its business according to criteria of absolute transparency and rigorous fairness, also in relation to the work for the presentation of a list for the renewal of the board, of which it has constantly informed the supervisory authorities. vigilance. The aforementioned principles were adhered to in relations with all the directors, without exception and on every occasion “.