Italy: Mediobanca wants to oust Generali CEO

Milan, 1 June (AKI/Bloomberg) - Mediobanca is seeking to remove Assicurazioni Generali Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Perissinotto because the investment bank wants to improve the performance of Italy’s biggest insurer, two people familiar with the situation said.

Perissinotto was summoned to Mediobanca’s Milan headquarters and asked to resign by Alberto Nagel, CEO of Milan- based Mediobanca, and Chairman Renato Pagliaro, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public.

Generali’s CEO refused to step down and investors led by Mediobanca, the insurer’s biggest investor with a 13.2 percent stake, plan to push for his ouster at a board meeting the insurer has called for tomorrow, one of the people said. Mediobanca declined to comment on the matter, as did a spokesman for Generali.

“The problem with Generali is governance, which needs to be improved,” said Emanuele Vizzini, who oversees about 800 million euros ($990 million) as chief investment officer for Investitori Sgr in Milan. “Removing a CEO doesn’t bring about the necessary changes. You need to remove the interference of investors that have direct and conflicting interests.”

Mario Greco, an executive at Zurich Insurance Group AG, will be proposed as a replacement for Perissinotto, one of the people said. Greco is a former CEO of Italian insurer Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta SpA.