Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Citibank (London and Milan branches), as Principal Paying Agent, Local Paying Agent and Calculation Agent, for the issue of mini-bonds by the renewable energy company, Antin Solar Investments S.p.A. (Antin Solar). Citibank will also act as representative of the bondholders, through Citicorp Trustee Company Limited. The funds raised will be used by the company to refinance investments in the solar sector. This was the first ever deal of its kind in Italy.

Antin Solar is wholly owned by Antin Infrastructure Partners and serves as a platform for the acquisition of solar photo voltaic (PV) plants in Italy.

The innovative bond issue was structured by Natixis, which also acted as Transaction Agent.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by banking partner Umberto Mauro, who is based in Milan.

“Mini-bonds allow capital markets investors to lend money to businesses. Over the past two years, we have seen an increased interest in mini-bonds as a source of alternative financing following the reduction of traditional lending by Italian banks. Mini-bonds are issued by unlisted companies and are listed on a specific segment of the Italian stock exchange reserved to qualified investors. They are flexible securities and provide favourable tax treatment for both investors and issuers. Following recent changes in law, this fiscal advantage applies also to the security package of mini-bonds, which extends the scope of potential usage of mini-bonds to refinance project loans. This is good news for businesses, especially in the infrastructure and renewable sectors. I have had the pleasure of speaking at numerous conferences and seminars on the topic of mini-bonds and expect to see more of these deals in 2014 and 2015.”