Big maneuvers at Delfin, members and board of directors are studying a new reorganization

Major maneuvers begin at Delfin, the Luxembourg financial company controlled by the Del Vecchio family and which owns strategic holdings for Italian industry and finance. After having decided, ahead of time, how to vote in the MPS assembly on 29 October, where Delfin is the largest shareholder with 17.6%, siding alongside and in favor of Intesa Sanpaolo's takeover bid, it is now thinking about a possible share reorganization in view of March 2027.

In the spring, in fact, the green light will be given for three other shareholders of the holding, namely Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio (Lmdv), Clemente Del Vecchio and Rocco Basilico, to be able to transfer their shareholdings, equal to 12.5% each, into their own corporate vehicles whose shares can be pledged to banks or sold to third-party investors.

Two other partners, Luca and Paola Del Vecchio have already taken this step. Therefore, the risk of Delfin's disintegration is starting to become real and it is possible that both the top management of the holding company and the less recalcitrant shareholders are looking in this period for solutions for a reorganization capable of bringing some serenity back to the troubled affair following the death of EssilorLuxottica's founder, Leonardo Del Vecchio.

The embarrassment of Leonardo Maria's public outings

In recent weeks, a feeling mixed with embarrassment and indignation has grown within the family over Lmdv's public outings, which with freewheeling statements attacked both the family and Francesco Milleri, president and CEO of EssilorLuxottica and president of Delfin. And therefore the need to liquidate it is mounting, hypothetically having Delfin buy its 12.5%, also considering the fact that among the eight Lmdv shareholders it is certainly the most indebted and the most in need of liquidity. The fact that three Delfin shareholders, Luca, Clemente and Paola, have been blocking the distribution of dividends for four years now has the effect of exasperating the needs of those in need of money.

Attempts to simplify the Delfin structure

But the holding's board of directors, given the liquidity it has in cash (to which will soon be added over 600 million from Intesa Sanpaolo), and the strong debt capacity given the rich portfolio of shareholdings such as 32% of Essilux, 17.6% of Mps (which will turn into 3.9% of Intesa), 10% of Generali, 2.7% of Unicredit and 28% of Covivio, it could also put forward the possibility of purchasing two 12.5% stakes instead of just one. Thus simplifying the shareholding structure which would go from eight to six shareholders and thus unlocking a greater distribution of dividends.