Generali Shares Rise as Del Vecchio Family Gets Green Light to Raise Stake Above 10%

By Pierre Bertrand

Assicurazioni Generali shares rose on Monday after shareholder Delfin, a holding company owned by the Del Vecchio family, received regulatory approval on Friday to increase its stake in the Italian insurer to more than 10%.

At 1047 GMT, Generali shares traded 3.5% higher to EUR19.27, having risen by as much as 5.6% earlier in the session.

On Friday, Italy's insurance regulator signed off on the stake increase after Delfin exceeded 10% ownership because of a share buyback at Generali, the Institute for the Supervision of Insurance said in a statement.

Delfin had requested authorization to increase its stake in April, the regulator said.

The Del Vecchio Group had a 9.77% share ownership of Generali as of April 17, according to Generali's website.

The approval of the regulator to increase the shareholding in the company is likely to increase the speculative appeal of Generali, Equita Sim analyst Andrea Lisi said in a research note. To what extent, however, depends on Delfin's strategy for Generali, the analyst said.

Delfin also owns a 19.8% stake in Mediobanca which as of April 17 also held 13.10% of Generali.

At 1047 GMT Mediobanca shares traded up 1.8% to EUR11.16.

Write to Pierre Bertrand at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 03, 2023 07:12 ET (11:12 GMT)

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