MILAN (Reuters) -Italian billionaire Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone has emerged as a leading player in a reshaping of Italy's financial sector triggered by a surge in M&A activity. 

GENERALI AND MEDIOBANCA BATTLES

Caltagirone last year expanded his investments in Italy's financial sector, becoming a key shareholder in bailed-out bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and fund manager Anima Holding.

He has long been the third-largest shareholder in Italy's biggest insurer Generali and has increased its stake in Mediobanca since 2021 to become the No. 2 investor in the Milanese bank.

Mediobanca is the largest investor in Generali and it has clashed with Caltagirone in the past over the insurer's leadership. In 2022, Caltagirone and the late Ray-Ban billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio tried in vain to oust Generali CEO Philippe Donnet.

Donnet's three-year term expires in May.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's conservative government has approved corporate governance changes championed by Caltagirone, and criticised by fund managers, which make it hard for a company's outgoing board to propose a list of successors.

Generali has said its board would not propose nominees, including a CEO candidate, when it retires given the changes in rules. Donnet has offered to stay on for another term as CEO.

WHAT IS CALTAGIRONE'S ROLE IN ITALIAN BANKING CONSOLIDATION?

Caltagirone, 81, has emerged as an ally of Italy's conservative government which has always said it wants to re-privatise bailed-out MPS to help to create a third large banking player.

On Jan. 24, MPS launched a surprise 13.3 billion euro all-share offer to buy Mediobanca, which has been rejected.

The Treasury had long favoured combining MPS with Banco BPM, but a hostile buyout offer for BPM by UniCredit derailed that plan.

BPM had bought a 5% stake in MPS before UniCredit's swoop, raising the prospect of an eventual tie-up.

Caltagirone looked set to play a role in that tie-up thanks to his network of shareholdings. These are a 5% stake in MPS, a similar stake in Anima, the fund manager which BPM had bid for, and 2% of BPM itself.

MPS's bid for Mediobanca, which Caltagirone is expected to back, could now help UniCredit's pursuit of BPM because it removes a potential line of defence for BPM.

Caltagirone in December named two representatives to the MPS board, including his son Alessandro.

WHO IS CALTAGIRONE?

An Italian entrepreneur with interests in construction, the cement industry, real estate, publishing and finance, Caltagirone was born in Rome in 1943 to a family of Sicilian descent.

According to Forbes' 2024 wealth ranking, Caltagirone is Italy's 10th richest person with an estimated wealth of 5.6 billion euros.

He owns Rome-based daily Il Messaggero, Italy's eighth-largest newspaper by circulation, which is broadly supportive of Meloni's government, and several regional newspapers. 

Despite his wealth and influence, Caltagirone keeps a relatively low profile and rarely gives media interviews.

He started out by reviving his late father's building business alongside his two brothers and a cousin. He expanded in the 1980s with the acquisition of cement and infrastructure firm Vianini Group.

His Milan-listed cement company Cementir operates in 18 countries with 3,000 employees worldwide. It is the largest cement producer in Denmark, the third-largest in Belgium and among the main international grey cement operators in Turkey, its website showed. 

Caltagirone has three children, all involved in his operations, but no designated successors.