UniCredit has increased its stake in insurer Generali to between 6% and 7%, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, ahead of a key shareholder vote to pick a new board of directors.
Unicredit’s stake was 5.3% as of April 10, according to Generali’s website.
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel built the Generali stake in recent months to strengthen his bargaining power in a tumultuous consolidation wave sweeping the Italian banking sector.
He had not disclosed his strategy over Generali, but a source close to the matter on Thursday said UniCredit was poised to side with Generali investor Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, confirming a report by Bloomberg News.
UniCredit declined to comment. (Editor’s note: Generali Chief Executive Philippe Donnet secured shareholder support on Thursday to stay in the job for another three years. Caltagirone won only three board seats, while Mediobanca won 10, leaving the balance of power within the board unchanged, according to a Bloomberg article.)
Caltagirone, a construction magnate close to the government of conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, is a long-time opponent of Generali’s main investor Mediobanca.
The two face off in Thursday’s vote with two alternative lists of board nominees.
Support for Caltagirone could help CEO Orcel overcome government opposition to UniCredit’s takeover offer for Banco BPM.
The government on Friday imposed a number of conditions to clear the bid, which UniCredit has said could be damaging.
UniCredit has engaged with the government over the conditions, and said the bid could be in doubt.
(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro and Valentina Za; editing by Bernadette Baum)
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