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Atlantia CEO steps down, relatives of Morandi bridge victims shocked by severance pay
The stock price of Atlantia, the holding company of Autostrade d'Italia, enjoys an uptick after the CEO's resignation.
Francesca Forleo e Roberto Sculli Pubblicato il 20 Settembre 2019
The chief executive of Atlantia, Giovanni Castellucci, resigned on Tuesday after a special board meeting was held to deal with the fallout of the investigation of the Morandi bridge collapse last year killing 43 people. The company owns Autostrade per l'Italia, a subsidiary that ran the bridge in Genoa. In a statement released by Atlantia, the company said Castellucci, who has been CEO for the last 13 years, will be replaced by a temporary five-person committee until a replacement is found. In the meantime, Giancarlo Guenzi, Atlantia's chief financial officer, has been named director-general. The former chief executive of SPEA Engineering (Atlantia's sister infrastructure company currently under investigation), Antonino Galatà, has also been replaced, by Guglielmo Bove. The move comes during «a period of transition, with the aim of maintaining the functionality of the company to protect its credibility and reputation» a statement from the company said.
The decision to replace Galatà with Bove is a clear vote of confidence and trust by the company's board and shareholders. Bove, who previously worked as Secretary for Telecom, is already an influential figure in Atlantia. Since 2016, he's been the Executive VP of Compliance & Security at Atlantia SpA and Secretary & General Counsel of Aeroporti di Roma SpA (a subsidiary of Atlantia SpA). With a background in law and mechanical operations, Bove is considered to be an extremely rigorous leader. Thus, it is hardly a coincidence that his new role will require him to exercise his full abilities in managing the three operating structures of SPEA following the arrest of the three employees at Autostrade and at its sister infrastructure company SPEA Engineering on allegations that safety reports into other viaducts were falsified.
The share price of Atlantia recovered slightly (+ 1.54%) in response to Castellucci's resignation, closing at 21,08. This small uptick comes after having lost more than 15% since the collapse of the bridge on August 14, 2018. Meanwhile, the future of Alitalia remains uncertain. Earlier this summer, Castelluci negotiated a potential investment by Atlantia to rescue the Italian carrier, however, his departure pushed the deadline for an offer to October 15th.
Relatives of the victims of the collapse of the Ponte Morandi were shocked by the bonus Castellucci received: «I would like to see the 13 million euro severance pay donated to charity and invested in the safety of roads and people» said Egle Possetti, spokesman for the family committee. «It seems contradictory to us that a person accused of a tragedy like that of Morandi receives all that money. The severance pay should be given to someone who, in addition to turning a profit, upholds the reputation of a company and I do not think that this is the case» said Possetti. As for his resignation? «It came too late» he said. «I read that if Castellucci is found partially responsible for the bridge's collapse he will have to give back part of the sum, however, I think that they should have given him his bonus only after having demonstrated that he wasn't guilty, not vice versa».
The victims' relatives «are like all Italians, bitter, upset, and angry with a system that rewards those who are suspected of such a great tragedy. It would have been different if Autostrade settled it after the collapse».
This article first appeared in Italian in La Stampa. It has been translated to English.
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