Italy’s top insurer Generali sealed its 1.17 billion euro ($1.36 billion) takeover of smaller rival Cattolica on Friday in a move aimed at cementing its domestic market leadership.
On the last day of Generali’s buyout offer, investors had tendered shares equivalent to 60.8% of Cattolica’s capital, bourse data showed.
Along with the shares it already owned, Generali now holds a stake of 84.5% in Cattolica.
Generali crossed the majority threshold on Thursday but a two-thirds majority was needed to push through extraordinary shareholder resolutions such as the decision to take Cattolica private and merge it into the group – as Generali plans to do.
Generali first moved on Cattolica last year, coming to its rescue with a 300 million euro investment after supervisors told the Verona-based insurer to bolster its finances.
Trieste-based Generali offered 6.75 euros for each Cattolica share tendered, a price deemed fair by Cattolica’s board.
Shares in Cattolica, which until recently traded above the bid’s price, closed at 6.58 euros on Friday.
($1 = 0.8624 euros) (Reporting by Andrea Mandalà; editing by Mark Potter)
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