Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali plans to exit its investment in Telco, TI’s largest shareholder, either this June or next February.
Speaking on a conference call on the insurer’s 2013 results in mid March, CEO Mario Greco said: “We are…
Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali plans to exit its investment in Telco, TI’s largest shareholder, either this June or next February.
Speaking on a conference call on the insurer’s 2013 results in mid March, CEO Mario Greco said: “We are getting ready to exit in one of the two available windows, either next June or in February 2015.”
Such a move would see Spain’s Telefonica, the leading investor in Telco, increase its influence over the Italian incumbent.
Generali has a 19.3% stake in Telco, which in turn owns 22.4% of TI. Based on TI’s market capitalisation of about €10.84bn (US$15.07bn) at the time of writing, Generali’s indirect stake in TI would be worth about €466m (US$648m).
Carlo Alberto Carnevale Maffe, a professor of business strategy at Bocconi University in Milan, told Bloomberg Generali is likely to sell its stake either on the market or directly to another investor. The insurer could join forces with Telco’s other Italian investors, Intesa Sanpaolo and Mediobanca, to sell their stakes together, he added.
Carnevale Maffe said regulatory hurdles would likely stand in the way of Generali selling its stake to Telefonica.
On the same conference call, Greco said Generali has written down the value of its TI investment to 72 cents per share.
New chairman
Separately, Bloomberg cited people with knowledge of the matter as saying Telco is likely to nominate Massimo Tononi, chairman of the Italian stock exchange, as TI’s next chairman.
TI shareholders are set to vote on its new chairman and board members at the annual general meeting set for 16 April.
A majority of shareholders will need to agree upon the appointment, TI said yesterday. Failing that, the telco’s board will appoint their own chairman.
Activist TI shareholder Marco Fossati’s Findim Group and small shareholders’ association Asati have have complained that the current board prioritises the interests of majority shareholders.
TI’s current chairman Aldo Minucci took on the role last month, having stepped in as acting chairman when former chairman and CEO Franco Bernabe stepped down last October.
