ROME - Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Italy's government owned rail network company, have successfully launched a 1-billion-euro bond issuance, with 8 years maturity and a 1.5 percent fixed coupon, the proceeds of which will go towards financing regional and long-haul Trenitalia trains as well as the Italian High Speed Train infrastructure.

 Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International, JP Morgan and UniCredit all played a role in the bond’s transaction.

 The bond issuance is part of the 2,1-billion-euro plan approved by the firm’s board of directors for 2017 financial needs. 

 Renato Mazzocini, the firm’s CEO, was pleased with the recent bond issuance:

 “Today (Friday) we received further endorsement of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane’s reliability, the new Industrial Plan gives out a loud and clear message,” said Mazzocini.

 “The choice to recourse mainly to the bond market, today and in the future, has been rewarded by a positive perception from the capital market about the FS’ creditworthiness and its development opportunities,” he added.

 Rating agencies are giving a BBB rating to the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane bond, which means “adequate capacity to meet financial commitments but more subject to adverse economic conditions”. 

 Investors are exclusively Europeans, with nearly half of them Italians.  There are also investments from Germany and Austria making up 16 percent each, and France, representing 10 percent of the total investment.

 “The high demand from investors, with a 52% of orders coming from abroad, clearly shows trust in the FS Group ongoing transformation, from an Italian railway company to an international mobility company,” concluded Mazzocini.

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