By Valentina Za and Giuseppe Fonte MILAN, March 9 (Reuters) - Monte dei Paschi di Siena CEO Luigi Lovaglio has cancelled investor meetings he was due to hold to discuss the strategy for the combined
MPS Cancels Investor Meetings as Board Ousts CEO Ahead of Mediobanca Merger
Leadership Shakeup and Strategic Uncertainty at Monte dei Paschi di Siena
By Valentina Za and Giuseppe Fonte
Cancellation of Investor Meetings Following CEO Ouster
MILAN, March 9 (Reuters) - Monte dei Paschi di Siena CEO Luigi Lovaglio has cancelled investor meetings he was due to hold to discuss the strategy for the combined MPS-Mediobanca banking group that he unveiled at the end of February, two sources close to the matter said.
MPS was not immediately available for comment.
Reuters was not able to ascertain the precise dates of the meetings which are normally held immediately after a company presents financial earnings or a strategic plan.
Exclusion of Lovaglio from CEO Candidates
However, since unveiling the business plan on February 27, Lovaglio has been excluded from the rooster of CEO candidates the MPS board has put forward for a shareholder vote in April.
Implications for Investors and Shareholder Dynamics
The decision is the latest evidence of a governance clash inside the Tuscan bank which has implications for the dozens of investors that bought its shares in 2023-2024 as Italy cut a 64% MPS stake it had acquired in a 2017 bailout to less than 5%.
The investors dumped MPS shares on the strategy day as the boardroom tensions prevented Lovaglio from also announcing the financial terms of the merger with Mediobanca.
Board Approval and Merger Strategy
The CEO had secured on February 17 board approval for the deal, prompting investors to take positions in view of the expected share exchange ratio between MPS and Mediobanca shares.
Lovaglio had been working to push through the delisting of Mediobanca and merge it with MPS, as indicated to investors and supervisors when MPS first launched its bid for the bigger rival.
Shareholder Opposition and Governance Tensions
Such plans, however, clashed with the view of leading MPS shareholder Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone who did not want to fold Mediobanca into MPS and favoured keeping it listed, people with knowledge of the matter have previously said.
Caltagirone has denied any clash with Lovaglio and said the MPS board acts autonomously.
Reporting and Editorial Credits
(Reporting by Valentina Za in Milan and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome;Editing by Keith Weir)
