ROME (Reuters) – The Chief Executive of Leonardo del Vecchio’s holding company Delfin, Romolo Bardin, has resigned from the board of Generali, Italy’s top insurer said in a statement on Monday.
The exit of Bardin follows that of Generali’s second-largest investor – Italian entrepreneur Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone – on Thursday, in a challenge to the reappointment of current Chief Executive Philippe Donnet.
Donnet’s bid for a new term as CEO is at the centre of a struggle among Generali’s biggest investors, including Caltagirone and eyewear magnate Del Vecchio.
Donnet is backed by Generali’s leading investor Mediobanca and a majority of board members.
Delfin is the third-largest investor in the insurer with a 6.618% stake. Caltagirone holds 8.04% of Generali, trailing Mediobanca’s 12.8% stake.
“Bardin referred to operating procedures and some choices of the Board and in the Committees in which he participates, in particular, the process for the formation of the board list, as reasons for his decision to step down,” the statement added.
Generali Chairman Gabriele Galateri di Genola said he regretted Bardin’s decision and that the company had conducted its business “according to the standards of absolute transparency and rigorous fairness, in the interest of all stakeholders”.
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti, editing by Cristina Carlevaro, Kirsten Donovan)
