UPDATE: Terna Deal Sparks Renewed Demand For Peripheral Debt
February 13 2012 - 10:39AM
Dow Jones News
Italian electricity grid operator Terna SpA (TRN.MI) Monday
showed ongoing tensions in Greece have done little to curb appetite
for peripheral corporate debt as demand for its five-year paper
topped EUR5 billion.
Terna is set to price a EUR1.25 billion bond at 257 basis points
over midswaps--127 basis points wider than a 10-year deal it priced
last March, highlighting the premium Italian issuers are having to
pay since the euro-zone debt crisis intensified last summer.
That compares with U.K. energy company BP PLC (BP), which got a
EUR1.25 billion four-year deal at 78 basis points over midswaps
Monday. BP is rated A2 by Moody's Investors Service Inc. and A by
Standard & Poor's Corp--both one notch above Terna.
Initial price guidance on the Terna transaction was in the area
of 265 basis points over midswaps.
It is the third benchmark-size deal from an Italian
non-financial this year, following new issues from oil and gas
company Eni (ENI.MI) and road-toll operator Atlantia (ATL.MI).
Eni priced a EUR1 billion, eight-year bond at 220 basis points
over midswaps on Jan. 27, while Atlantia priced a EUR1 billion,
seven-year bond at 275 basis points over midswaps on Feb. 2.
Italian corporates have been unable to escape the ratings action
on the country's sovereign debt, with Standard & Poor's Corp.
cutting Terna to A- from A following its two-notch downgrade of
Italy last month.
Moody's Investors Service Inc. also lowered Terna to A3 from A2
in October after it chopped Italy's credit rating by three
notches.
Fitch Ratings confirmed Terna's A rating in November but cut its
outlook to negative from stable. Fitch downgraded Italy by two
notches at the end of last month.
BNP Paribas SA, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Deutsche Bank AG,
Mediobanca, Natixis and UniCredit SpA are the lead managers on the
Terna deal.
-By Ben Edwards, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9287;
ben.edwards@dowjones.com
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