Milbank LLP advised the lenders in connection with the €1 billion committed bridge financing (the “Bridge Loan”) provided to Italgas S.p.A. (“Italgas”) and the underwriters in connection with Italgas’ €1.02 billion offering of 202,938,478 new ordinary shares at a subscription price of €5.026 per new ordinary share (the “Rights Offering”).
The proceeds from the Bridge Loan were used to finance Italgas’ acquisition of 99.94% of the share capital of 2i Rete Gas S.p.A. (“2i Rete Gas”), which completed on April 1, 2025. The proceeds of the Rights Offering, which closed on June 25, 2025, were used to refinance the Bridge Loan and pay related transaction costs.
With the acquisition of 2i Rete Gas, Italgas, listed on the Milan stock exchange, became the first operator in gas distribution in Europe with more than 6,500 employees, 12.9 million customers served in Italy and Greece, approximately 154,000 kilometers of grids and more than 13 billion cubic meters of gas distributed every year. The consideration (equity value) of the transaction at closing was €2.1 billion.
The Milbank team was led by Leveraged Finance/Capital Markets partners Apostolos Gkoutzinis, David Dixter and Ana Grbec with support from special counsel Varun Natteri Mangadu and associates Maria C. Schweinberger, Pranahita Srinivas, Natasha Cacela and Luca Mirabile. New York-based Tax partner Andrew Walker and associate Michelle Song also assisted the team.