Italian “A35 Brebemi” won the PFI’s award as best European Project Bond of the year

Brescia/London, 6th February 2020

Italian motorway A35 Brebemi was awarded with yet another international accolade during the prestigious PFI Awards in London, being accredited as “Best European Bond Deal of the Year”.

PFI Awards – assigned by the Thomson-Reuters group’s magazine Project Finance International – are among the most authoritative accolades in the international project financing sector.

The refinancing operation of A35 Brebemi was awarded by PFI as one of the most important issuances of a Project Bond in Europe, with the best conditions of refinancing.

The debt structure of about 2 billion euro consists of a mix of senior and junior debts, of which four bond tranches for a total of 1,679 million euro and a bank loan of 307 million euro. According to PFI, it is difficult to structure such a refinancing operation in terms of dimensions and deadlines whilst allowing better economic conditions.

70%, of A1 and A2 Brebemi tranches, was acquired by EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) investors; 26% by USA investors, and the remaining by APAC (Asia-Pacific). Wealth managers acquired 67% of the quotes, while pension funds got 32% and banks 1%. The structure of the operation allowed the project to reach an optimal debt coverage ratio thanks to the A3 Zero Coupon tranche.

Francesco Bettoni, A35 Brebemi President, accepted the award and said, “The quality of our project was recognised and confirmed in London as well. Our infrastructure benefits from excellent reputation on the international scene, and the award we received as Best European Bond Deal of the Year from PFI strengthens even more the financial structure of the company. The success of the issuance is an important victory for the team who worked on this project and for the A35 Brebemi’s partners – from Regione Lombardia to the grantor CAL SpA, from the majority shareholder Intesa Sanpaolo to the other shareholders who always believed in the project”.

A35 Brebemi is the motorway connecting Brescia and Milan, the faster and safer way between the two cities. The infrastructure, active since 23rd July 2014, is 62.1km long, has a toll station in Castegnato and interconnection ramps with the A4 motorway. A35 Brebemi can be reached from the motorway system of Brescia accessing the exit ramp after Brescia Ovest (direction “A35 Milano – Linate”), or through the Tangenziale Sud of Brescia and the SP19, or the new A21 (Corda Molle). There are six toll stations: Chiari Ovest, Calcio, Romano di Lombardia, Bariano, Caravaggio and Treviglio. After the last Treviglio poll, cars can access A58 Tangenziale Est Esterna Milano (TEEM) connecting A35 Brebemi with A1 at Melegnano, the A4 at Agrate, Linate and the metropolitan area of Milan, through two junctions (Pozzuolo Martesana on the right and Liscate on the left), that respectively have access to SP103 Cassanese and SP14 Rivoltana. A35 Brebemi received three important international recognitions, in the USA and in the UK, as best infrastructure project financing.

Press information: 
Consilium Comunicazione 
Andrea Cucchetti – acucchetti@consiliumcom.it; +39 349 5554664

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