MILAN (Reuters) -Italy’s Benetton family, a leading investor in Generali with a 4.8% stake, will abstain in Thursday’s vote to pick the insurer’s new board, keeping out of a shareholder battle, two people close to the matter said on Thursday.
The vote is pitting a slate of candidates backed by Generali’s top investor Mediobanca, which is expected to gain the most seats and keep the current Generali CEO in the job, against another slate put forward by Generali’s No.2 investor Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone.
The sources said that while the Benetton family was not taking sides on Thursday, it was considering backing a buyout offer by Monte dei Paschi di Siena for Mediobanca.
(Reporting by Valentina Za, editig by Sara Rossi)
