Mediobanca May Delay Vote on Banca Generali Bid, Repubblica Says

(Bloomberg) -- Mediobanca called a board meeting on Sunday to decide whether to postpone an investor meeting to endorse its plan to takeover Banca Generali SpA, La Repubblica reports, without mentioning where it obtained the information.

According to the newspaper, a potential delay of the shareholder meeting, scheduled for Monday, would be justified as some of Mediobanca’s shareholders, such as billionaire Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, asked earlier this month for a postponement due to lack of sufficient information to make a decision. 

The delay could also be determined by the first counts of the votes, which may show shareholders opposing the Banca Generali deal could be ahead, La Repubblica said. 

A representative for Mediobanca declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg. 

Bloomberg reported on Saturday that UniCredit holds a 1.9% stake in Mediobanca. The Italian bank accumulated the holding in the last six months as residual client trading positions to cover certificates activity of its clients, people with knowledge of the matter said. UniCredit has registered the stake at Mediobanca’s shareholder meeting, the people said.

UniCredit may join a group of shareholders with interests in both Mediobanca and Assicurazioni Generali to vote for abstention at Mediobanca’s shareholder meeting, the people said. The group may include the billionaire families of EssilorLuxottica’s late founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, Mediobanca’s biggest investor with a 20% stake, and Benetton, which holds 2.2%, some of the people said, adding that no final decision has been taken yet and all options are still open. 

Mediobanca is part of a complicated web of dealmaking in Italian finance, where cross-holdings, alliances and sometimes conflicting interests mean that developments in one deal have repercussions for others. Chief Executive Officer Alberto Nagel is seeking to buy Banca Generali, the private banking arm of Assicurazioni Generali, and use the shares it holds in the insurer as consideration for the offer. The plan is also aimed at fending off a hostile bid from Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA.

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