Delfin and Del Vecchio’s heirs propose appointing administrators to oversee the accounts until 2030

Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor – A mandate running until 2030, with clear powers over Delfin’s accounting and financial supervision. This is what the majority of the Del Vecchio heirs will seek to have approved at the holding company’s next shareholders’ meeting, to be held in the Grand Duchy on 30 June. According to the addendum to the agenda, which Radiocor has been able to view, the term of office of those defined under Luxembourg law as ‘Commissaire aux comptes’ is set to begin, should the shareholders give the go-ahead, on the day of their appointment and end after four years at the shareholders’ meeting convened to approve the 2029 financial statements. The mandate will be remunerated with a gross annual fee of 200,000 euros (including reimbursement of expenses). The request is signed, in order, by Clemente Del Vecchio, Nicoletta Zampillo, Leonardo Maria, Paola and Luca.

The letter was sent by five of the eight heirs on 22 June to all the shareholders and the board of directors of the finance company, which subsequently split over the ‘patronage’ letter required as security by the banks for the 11 billion loan in favour of Leonardo Maria (to acquire Luca and Paola’s shares; they too, as can be seen, agree on the commissioners). The signatory shareholders are therefore asking the board to add this proposal to the agenda of the general meeting. The names of the proposed commissioners, as previously reported by *La Repubblica*, are those of lawyer Lara Forte (who specialises in investment funds at the Mourant law firm), chartered accountant Fabio Scoyni and, above all, manager Marco Talarico, Del Vecchio Jr.’s right-hand man, who will move from heading the LMDV family office to the role of accounting supervisor for the holding company that houses the family’s assets, ranging from shares in Essilux to MPS, via UniCredit and Generali.

Regardless of the outcome of the shareholders’ meeting – which appears to be in limbo – this move is, in any case, a way of calling Delfin’s governance into question or, at the very least, of giving a jolt to those who have been at the helm of the company for some time. A strategy that might have been unthinkable until recently, demonstrating how the dispute over the legacy has now shifted to within the board of directors. The clash is out in the open, given that when the board voted on the ‘patronage’ letter, Chairman Francesco Milleri and notary Mario Notari voted in favour, whilst the holding company’s CEO, Romolo Bardin, and the two directors Giovanni Giallombardo and Aloyse May did not. The outcome thus confirmed a shared vision between Milleri and Leonardo Maria, the heir behind the reorganisation plan aimed at bringing his father’s inheritance dispute to a close.

It therefore remains to be seen how Bardin might interpret the proposal to appoint auditors, a matter which had never previously been raised in the company’s governance. Nor should we forget the words recently used by the chairman of Ray-Ban in asking Delfin’s board of directors for clarity on the reorganisation: ‘For years I have supported the board and the continuity of the holding company. Now, however, this sequence of events compels me to ask for clarity.’ An initial response is expected within 48 hours; anything is possible. (Enr-)