(Updating with further Perissinotto comments)
MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Assicurazioni Generali SpA has a potential war
chest of 4.5 billion to 5.0 billion euros for acquisitions, Generali CEO
Giovanni Perissinotto said.
"We have 2.3 billion euros in excess capital on top of which we can add bank
loans, hybrid instruments and other forms of financing that could bring us to a
total of 4.5 billion to 5.0 billion euros," Perissinotto said.
The CEO added however that at the moment there are no plans for any
acquisition of this size.
In its presentation of 2007 results, Generali said its excess capital at the
end of 2007 was 3.2 billion euros.
Asked about the group's performance in the first few months of the year,
Perissinotto said "the group is continuing to go well ... in line with
expectations and the business plan".
In Italy he said non-life insurance is going well except for car insurance
"which is stagnating because of the fall in tariffs".
He said the group's combined ratio is continuing to improve.
In the life insurance sector, Perissinotto said pension products were
selling well while "bancassurance business is suffering".
The CEO said he believed market watchdog Consob will say something on the
appeal made to it by activist investment fund Algebris to ascertain whether
Edizione Holding has "relevant connections" with Mediobanca SpA, the investment
bank which owns over 15 percent of Generali.
Last week Algebris asked Consob to ascertain whether Edizione Holding, the
financial holding company of the Benetton family, has "relevant connections"
with Mediobanca.
In a reply to Consob, Edizione Holding said that it has no effective power
over the setting of financial policy or management at Mediobanca and hence has
no relevant connection.
"It's a very technical issue. I don't know what powers Consob has in all
this," Perissinotto said.
Perissinotto also said the antitrust authority has postponed the deadline
for Intesa Sanpaolo SpA to sell the branches it must sell as a condition for
clearance of the group's recent merger.
Generali, whose unit Alleanza Assicurazioni SpA has a bancassurance joint
venture with Intesa Sanpaolo, has said the antitrust decision is harsh, since it
deprives it of an excessively large number of distribution outlets.
"The antitrust has given more time and flexibility for the sale of the
(Intesa Sanpaolo) branches in the centre-south," Perissinotto said, adding that
a solution needed to be found before the end of the year.
As part of the agreement with the antitrust the insurance portfolios of
1,133 Intesa Sanpaolo branches in the centre-south of the country have been
placed in the vehicle Sud Polo Vita which will be sold.
Perissinotto noted that the bancassurance agreement with Intesa Sanpaolo
expires in 2009.
"We intend to open negotiations very soon to see if the conditions are there
to continue the cooperation which we believe has been very successful," he said.
stephen.jewkes@thomson.com
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