Mediobanca Shareholders Reject €6.8 Billion Banca Generali Bid

Mediobanca’s attempt to buy Banca Generali collapsed after shareholders voted against the €6.8 billion proposal at an extraordinary meeting on 21 August. The Milan-based merchant bank said the offer, which would have been funded largely through its 13% stake in insurer Generali, automatically lapsed following the vote. Attendance was high, with investors holding 78% of Mediobanca’s share capital represented. Only 35% of the capital present backed the transaction, while 42% opposed or abstained—below the simple-majority threshold required under Italian takeover rules. Opposition was led by the Del Vecchio and Caltagirone families, which together control nearly 30% of Mediobanca. Chief Executive Alberto Nagel, who has run the bank since 2008, called the outcome a “missed opportunity” and said some investors had conflicts of interest linked to other Italian assets. Nagel had presented the deal as a way to create Italy’s second-largest wealth manager and, crucially, to complicate a hostile bid for Mediobanca by state-backed Monte dei Paschi di Siena. With the acquisition now off the table, analysts say the path for MPS’s takeover attempt appears clearer.