Poste Vita rises above 1% in Piazzetta Cuccia: “But we won’t vote at the meeting”
With two days to go until the deadline for presenting the lists for the next Mediobanca board of directors, the game is almost over. dolphin, the holding company of the Del Vecchio family, the largest shareholder with 19.8%, is expected to meet its board today or tomorrow to formalize the list. Barring surprises, the names should be released tomorrow, of which there will be five. An intermediate number between the two names – the minimum number of directors that the shareholder will indicate if he obtains fewer votes than the “board of directors’ list” – and the seven members, who could destabilize the top management of the Milanese investment bank in the event that on October 28th the list dolphin was the most voted. A gesture which in circles close to Delfin is explained by a sense of responsibility and the desire to take a non-aggressive position against the management made up of Alberto Nagel and Renato Pagliaro, the first two names expressed by the outgoing directors, in vogue for twenty years and re-proposed on first as CEO and the other as president. The website www.repubblica.it writes it.
Barring surprises, the list of dolphin should include the names of Sandro Panizza (former manager of Generali), Sabrina Pucci (professor at Roma Tre and former councilor of Generali), Jean-Luc Biamonti (president of Covivio, the real estate company of the Del Vecchios), Cristina Scocchia (CEO of Illycaffé and advisor to Essilux). The fifth name will not be a banker: not even Vittorio Grilli, at JP Morgan and former Treasury Minister, who worked with Delfin on the dossier but who would not have dissolved the reserve. Delfin will also present a list of two candidates for the Mediobanca board of statutory auditors, of which according to the governance rules it should indicate the president.
Both Delfin lists should be voted on in the assembly by the group Caltagirone, second shareholder at 9.8%. But to establish itself on the list of the board of directors, an eventuality that would allow Delfin to indicate five directors out of 15 of the new plenum, it is necessary to gather votes of at least 35%, because in Mediobanca they expect a turnout of over 75% at the annual shareholders’ meeting. At least 2% will vote for Assogestioni, which in accordance with the statute will thus indicate a name (renewing the current independent member Angela Gamba).
The choice of dolphin to indicate five names and not seven, and therefore avoid a clash that could damage his shareholding (worth 1.8 billion on the stock market) does not seem to support a race to the last vote scenario. However, behind the scenes there is tension, and yesterday it was not alleviated by the news published in the press that Poste, controlled by the Treasury and CDP, has a stake of just over 1% in Mediobanca. During the day, a note from Poste clarified that «Poste Vita holds over 150 billion euros in investments, including banking and listed securities, including Mediobanca». And that the company, “as per consolidated practice, will not exercise its right to vote at the meeting on 28 October”.
Eight months ago Later signed a shareholders’ agreement with the Caltagirone group on the shareholdings in Anima Sgr. And the CEO of Poste Matteo Del Fante, a year and a half ago was among the names with which Delfin and Caltagirone would have liked to replace the CEO of Generali Philippe Donnet. But Donnet was renewed and the following year Del Fante was confirmed at the Post Office.
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