Milan (Reuters) – Generali and the French Bank BPCE have agreed to remove the penalties provided for in the event of a break in their project of agreement in the management of assets, said two sources, confirming information from the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

The agreement to give up “break-ups” of 50 million euros would allow the two companies to more easily give up their rapprochement project while two general shareholders who oppose them have tightened their grip on the largest Italian insurer.

The representatives of BPCE and Generali refused to comment on the information.

The French banking group and the Italian insurer announced in early 2025 the signing of a memorandum of understanding in order to create a joint business in asset management, 50% owned by Natixis Investment Managers (BPCE) and 50% by Generali Investments.

One of the sources indicated that BPCE was also wary of the conditions that Rome, which has a “Golden Power” to protect the assets deemed strategic for the country, could impose after having read the conditions set by the Transalpine government for the purchase offer, now aborted, of unicredit on its competitor Banco BPM.

While Generali and BPCE are still in discussions, the chances of seeing the agreement to succeed seem extremely weak due to the evolution of the GENERALI shareholding.

The main investor of Generali is none other than Mediobanca, followed by two shareholders who have greatly criticized the draft agreement and recently reinforced in the capital: Delfin, the company Holding of the late Ray-Ban Leonardo Del Vecchio, and the real estate magnate Francesco Gaetano CaltaGirone.

Delfin and Caltagirone now control de facto mediobanca since her acquisition by Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena, of which they are the two main shareholders, after a hostile opa.

(Valentina Za and Gianluca Semeraro in Milan, Mathieu Rosemain in Paris; Bertrand de Meyer, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)

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