Moody's Investors Service has assigned a provisional A3 rating to €830 million (US$913.6 million) senior secured amortising bonds to refinance a motorway network of 74.1 km located in the Venice area, in Northern Italy.

The bond will be issued by Concessioni Autostradali Venete - CAV S.p.A. (CAV). CAV, which manages the road concession, is a motorway operator established in 2008 by ANAS (50%) and Regione Veneto (50%).

The proceeds from the Bonds will be used to fully refinance CAV's existing financial indebtedness, fund reserves and cover transaction costs.

Raffaella Altamura, Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst, stated:

"CAV is the first issuer in Italy to benefit from the European Investment Bank's Project Bond Initiative. The on-demand letter of credit provided by the EIB significantly reduces the bondholders' exposure to traffic risk and potential operational underperformance."

CAV was granted a concession expiring in 2032, covering a motorway network of 74.1 km located in the Venice area, which comprises some of the most strategic sections of the Italian motorway system. CAV network is a crucial intersection for the commercial exchanges between Eastern / Western and Northern / Southern Europe and is part of two of main Trans-European corridors: the Mediterranean, from Algeciras (Spain) to Ukraine border, and the Baltic-Adriatic connecting Gdynia (Poland) to Ravenna (Italy).

The construction of part of the network under management (Passante di Mestre) was paid for by ANAS in 2006 – 2008, with CAV taking charge of the operations at the beginning of 2009.