How billionaire Caltagirone may affect Italy’s banking M&A wave

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian billionaire Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone has emerged as a number one participant within the reshaping of Italy’s monetary sector that’s at the moment beneath method. 

BATTLES IN GENERALI AND MEDIOBANCA

Caltagirone final 12 months expanded his investments in Italy’s monetary sector and is now a key shareholder in bailed-out financial institution Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and fund supervisor Anima Holding.

On Friday MPS launched a shock 13.3 billion euro all-share provide to purchase service provider financial institution Mediobanca (OTC:MDIBY), wherein during the last 5 years Caltagirone has turn out to be the second-biggest investor.

He’s the third-largest shareholder in Italy’s prime insurer Generali (BIT:GASI), with a 6.9% stake. Mediobanca is the highest investor in Generali with a 13% stake. 

Caltagirone has repeatedly complained that Mediobanca exerts extreme affect on Generali via the board and a governance system which permits outgoing administrators to call their successors. 

As a long-standing investor and board member at Generali, in 2022 he and late fellow billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio sought in useless to oust CEO Philippe Donnet.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative authorities has accepted contested company governance modifications championed by Caltagirone, and criticised by fund managers, which tighten the phrases beneath which an organization’s outgoing board can file a listing of successors.

Donnet’s time period comes up for renewal within the spring and he’s anticipated to be put ahead for an additional mandate backed by Mediobanca.    

WHAT IS HIS ROLE IN ITALIAN BANKING CONSOLIDATION?

Caltagirone’s holdings probably pit him in opposition to UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel who in November launched a buyout provide for Banco BPM, shortly after BPM had launched its personal bid for Anima and acquired a 5% stake in MPS.

The Treasury in Rome has lengthy favoured combining BPM with MPS, which each companion with Anima, and constructing a core of long-term shareholders because it re-privatises the Siena-based financial institution it rescued in 2017, sources have stated.

Earlier than UniCredit upended Rome’s plans, Caltagirone, with a 5% stake in MPS, a 5.3% Anima holding, and a pair of% of BPM, appeared set to turn out to be a major shareholder within the mixed entity.

Caltagirone in December named two representatives to the MPS board, together with his son Alessandro.

WHO IS CALTAGIRONE?

An Italian entrepreneur with pursuits in development, the cement trade, actual property, publishing and finance, Caltagirone was born in Rome on March 2, 1943 to a household of Sicilian descent.

In accordance with Forbes’ 2024 wealth rating, Caltagirone is Italy’s tenth richest particular person with an estimated wealth of 5.6 billion euros ($5.9 billion).

He owns Rome-based day by day Il Messaggero, Italy’s eighth-largest newspaper by circulation, which is broadly supportive of Meloni’s authorities, and a number of other regional newspapers. 

Regardless of his wealth and affect, Caltagirone retains a comparatively low profile and infrequently offers media interviews.

He began out by reviving his late father’s constructing enterprise alongside his two brothers and a cousin. He expanded within the Eighties with the acquisition of Vianini Group, a Milan-listed cement and infrastructure agency.

His cement firm Cementir, listed on the Italian Inventory Change, has a presence in 18 international locations with 3,000 staff worldwide. It’s the largest cement producer in Denmark, the third-largest in Belgium and among the many essential worldwide gray cement operators in Turkey. 

Caltagirone has three kids – Francesco, Alessandro and Azzurra – all concerned in his operations, however no designated successors.        

($1 = 0.9529 euros)