UniCredit SpA boosted its stake in Assicurazioni Generali SpA to 8.7%, despite earlier indications that it planned to trim the holding.
The bank is the insurer third-largest shareholder of Generali, according to a statement of the Trieste-based insurer detailing the shares deposited for the upcoming annual meeting. As recently as October, UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel said the stake was under 5%, and indicated he planned to reduce it further.
The stake in Generali “is a financial investment,” a UniCredit spokesperson said. The holding offers “an attractive financial return,” he said, adding that the aggregate position is largely hedged, minimizing economic exposure and capital absorption.
The holding unveiled now gives UniCredit significant influence over the insurer, which is one of the companies affected by a wave of dealmaking reshaping Italy’s financial services sector. UniCredit also has a commercial partnership with Generali across different businesses.
Orcel has repeatedly said he has no strategic interest in the company, yet a recent governance clash at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, which recently became Generali’s largest shareholder, has fueled speculation of further moves that could involve the insurer.
The Monte Paschi dispute involved two other large shareholders who also own major stakes in Generali, construction tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and the investment vehicle of the late billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio. In a rare move, the two investors took opposing views of the candidates proposed to lead Monte Paschi at that bank’s shareholder meeting this month, resulting in a defeat for Caltagirone.
Orcel had built a roughly 7% position ahead of last year’s Generali meeting, when the board of directors was up for renewal along with CEO Philippe Donnet. At that time, UniCredit backed a minority slate led by Caltagirone, a vocal critic of Donnet.
Photograph: A UniCredit SpA bank branch in Rome. Photo credit: Matteo Bastianelli/Bloomberg
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