Storm hits the asset management company DeA Capital Real Estate of the De Agostini group. Here are all the details.
WHAT BANKITALIA ASKED DEA CAPITAL SGR OF THE DE AGOSTINI GROUP
The Bank of Italy has delivered to DeA Capital Real Estate, the asset management company of the De Agostini group, the report with the results of inspections, concluded last December. The investigations revealed that DeA Capital is exposed to the risk of money laundering: Bankitalia therefore requested immediate action and – given the imminent expiry of corporate offices – the convening of a joint meeting of the board of directors and the board of statutory auditors to call the shareholders’ meeting.
WHAT WILL BE DISCUSSED AT THE SHAREHOLDERS’ MEETING
The meeting will have to discuss the central bank’s inspection findings, but also the replacement of the majority of the members of the board of directors and the board of statutory auditors, including their respective presidents and the CEO. Bankitalia requested their replacement with individuals who have not previously held positions or operational roles within the company, as well as the presence of at least one director with strong anti-money laundering (Anti-Money Laundering or AML, in jargon) expertise.
Among the central bank’s requests are also the abstention from launching new funds intended for non-institutional clients and the formulation of an action plan. The latter should include a remediation program for the observations made by Bankitalia, a strengthening of the organizational structure and the staff of the control functions and – finally – the definition of a new business plan that takes into account the increase in costs.
DeA Capital has stated that it “will take all necessary actions to comply without delay with the authority’s requests.”
WHO CONTROLS DEA CAPITAL
DeA Capital Real Estate specializes in alternative investment funds and is the leading independent Italian operator in this market. Its capital is held entirely by DeA Capital, which in turn is controlled by De Agostini, a group active in many sectors – publishing, education, asset management, pharmaceuticals and more – and controlled by the Boroli and Drago families.
ALL MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE BOARD OF STATUTORY AUDITORS
The board of directors of DeA Capital Real Estate, which will have to be replaced at the request of the Bank of Italy, is composed of:
- Gianluca Grea (chairman);
- Emanuele Caniggia (CEO, in the photo);
- Daniela Becchini (director and independent administrator);
- Stefania Boroli (director);
- Gianandrea Perco (director);
- Saverio Salvemini (director and independent administrator);
- Andrea Casarotti (director).
The board of statutory auditors, instead, is composed as follows:
- Gian Piero Balducci (chairman);
- Barbara Castelli (statutory auditor);
- Annamaria Esposito Abate (statutory auditor);
- Fabiana Basile (alternate statutory auditor);
- Gianni Poggi (alternate statutory auditor).
The Risk and Control Committee includes Becchini (chairwoman), Grea and Perco. The Supervisory Body is composed of Maurizio Bortolotto (chairman), Davide Bossi and Luca Voglino.
PARTNERS AMONG BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES AND PENSION FUNDS
Among DeA Capital Real Estate’s partners are the major Italian banks and the main social security institutions such as UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco Bpm, Inps, Enasarco, Inarcassa, Enpam, Cnn, Cnpr and more. Insurance companies such as Generali, UnipolSai, Cattolica and Postevita are also listed as partners.
In the list of international investors, there are the Americans Oaktree, Apollo, Tpg Real Estate and York Capital Management, the French Crédit Agricole and the Chinese Fosun.
Among the financing banks, finally, there are UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco Bpm, Credit Suisse, Bnp Paribas, Ubi Banca, Natixis, Bank of America and Aareal Portal.
DEA CAPITAL’S FIGURES
DeA Capital Real Estate Sgr is the leader in the Italian real estate market, with a portfolio consisting of about 700 properties, over 60% of which are located between Rome and Milan and over 400,000 sqm of new developments and reconversions, as well as an important portfolio of partners, made up of about 100 Italian and international institutional investors.
The majority share of Dea Capital Re Sgr’s real estate assets consists of offices (about 60%), followed by retail and bank branches (about 13%), industrial and logistics (about 7%), but interventions are growing from hotellerie (such as the Four Seasons in Rome) to housing, up to nursing homes and RSAs.
