Bnp-Paribas is the counterparty of the securities lending that has allowed Mediobanca to increase its voting rights in Generali to 17.2% in view of the shareholders’ meeting that will have to renew the board next spring. managing director Philippe Donnet who in 2016 took over from Mario Greco, today at the helm of Zurich.
Mediobanca opposes a “no comment” to the news that was revealed by the newspaper “La Repubblica”.
On Thursday 23rd the Milanese investment bank, which owns about 13% of the leading Italian insurance company, limited itself to communicating that «it had signed a securities lending transaction with a primary market counterparty concerning no. 70 million Assicurazioni Generali shares, equal to 4.42% of the company’s share capital ». Adding only that “the transaction, on a closed basis, which will have a duration of approximately eight months and in any case at least until the shareholders’ meeting of Assicurazioni Generali called to renew the board of directors, will make it possible to hold, together with the shares already owned, on the 17th, 22% of the voting rights of Assicurazioni Generali ».
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The securities lending was unanimously approved by the Mediobanca board which met last Thursday to examine the 2020/2021 financial statements. The transaction between Bnp and Mediobanca was covered by a mutual obligation of confidentiality. Repubblica writes that “securities lending, among other things, relieves the French bank and some transalpine institutions from the embarrassment of voting for (or even worse against) Philippe Donnet, a manager who started his career in Axa and for years at the helm of a rival like Generali ». “Generali itself – continues the article signed by Sara Bennewitz – would not vote against the renewals of the top management of its rivals and probably the same will do Axa, Allianz, Groupama, Amundi and other investors, who were also present at the last meetings of the Lion with shares fractional “.
Bnp participated directly in the Telecom shareholders’ meetings, sometimes even with substantial packages, gathering the votes of the shares in deposit of its customers. Except in the case of funds, which can avail themselves of the right not to declare ownership of the shares until the 5% threshold is exceeded, if within that 4.42% package lent by the French bank there was a single shareholder which exceeds 3% the participation should be declared.
On Wednesday, Consob made it official that 17.249% of Generali reached by Mediobanca on 23 September is held directly by 15.51% as a borrower while 1.739% is a potential stake. The latter is part of the trading activity on the shareholding in Generali and concerns in particular, according to the statement to Consob, “shares transferred to third parties as collateral underlying securities lending transactions which are part of ordinary market activity and can be recalled in any moment”. The shares, it is specified, “will become the property of Mediobanca by the date of payment of the dividend on the Generali shares scheduled for October 2021”.