Stalking the lion

3 March 2003

The Unicredito camp is fighting Mediobanca by building up a stake in the insurer. Loosening Mediobanca s grip is a good plan. Shame Generali will still be the centre of Italian power struggles.

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Unicredito Italiano on Friday said it had bought 2% of Generali. The Italian bank's major shareholder, Fondazione Cariverona has also reportedly bought almost 2% of the Italian insurer. Unicredito said it had bought the shares after detecting intense interest in the insurer, which could weaken its national identity.

Generali said on Friday that it had raised its stake in Unicredito to 2%, as part of its normal investment policy. Under Italian law, if two companies by stakes of 2% or over in each other, the last company to make the purchase sees its voting rights frozen.

Generali has historically been controlled by Milanese investment bank Mediobanca with a 14% stake. This year, 2% of that holding has been forzen after an antitrust investigation

Mediobanca numbers Unicredito among its dissatisfied shareholders. In Mediobanca's camp is French corporate raider Vincent Bollore, who is close to Generali's latest chairman Antoine Bernheim.

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