HERA S.P.A. €2,500,000,000 Euro Medium Term Note Programme
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http://www.oblible.com BASE PROSPECTUS DATED 4 JUNE 2014 HERA S.p.A. (incorporated in the Republic of Italy as a joint stock company ) €2,500,000,000 Euro Medium Term Note Programme Under this €2,500,000,000 Euro Medium Term Note Programme (the Programme ), HERA S.p.A. (the Issuer or Hera or the Company, and together with its subsidiaries, the Hera Group ) may from time to time issue notes (the Notes ) denominated in any currency agreed between the Issuer and the relevant Dealer (as defined below). The maximum aggregate nominal amount of all Notes from time to time outstanding under the Programme will not exceed €2,500,000,000 (or its equivalent in other currencies calculated as described in the Programme Agreement described herein), subject to increase as described herein. The Notes may be issued on a continuing basis to one or more of the Dealers specified under " Overview of the Programme " and any additional Dealer appointed under the Programme from time to time by the Issuer (each a Dealer and together the Dealers ), which appointment may be for a specific issue or on an ongoing basis. References in this Base Prospectus to the relevant Dealer shall, in the case of an issue of Notes being (or intended to be) subscribed by more than one Dealer, be to all Dealers agreeing to subscribe such Notes. An investment in Notes issued under the Programme involves certain risks. For a discussion of these risks see " Risk Factors " beginning on page 17. Application has been made to the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (the CSSF ) in its capacity as competent authority under the Luxembourg Act dated 10 July 2005 (the Luxembourg Act ) on prospectuses for securities to approve this document as a base prospectus. The CSSF assumes no responsibility for the economic and financial soundness of the transactions contemplated by this Base Prospectus or the quality or solvency of the Issuer in accordance with Article 7(7) of the Luxembourg Act dated 10 July 2005. Application has also been made to the Luxembourg Stock Exchange for Notes issued under the Programme to be admitted to trading on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange's regulated market and to be listed on the Official List of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. References in this Base Prospectus to Notes being listed (and all related references) shall mean that such Notes have been admitted to trading on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange's regulated market and have been admitted to the Official List of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The Luxembourg Stock Exchange's regulated market is a regulated market for the purposes of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Directive 2004/39/EC). Notice of the aggregate nominal amount of Notes, interest (if any) payable in respect of Notes, the issue price of Notes and certain other information which is applicable to each Tranche (as defined under "Terms and Conditions of the Notes ") of Notes will be set out in a final terms document (the Final Terms ) which, with respect to Notes to be listed on the Official List of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, will be filed with the CSSF. Copies of Final Terms in relation to Notes to be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange will also be published on the website of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (www.bourse.lu). http://www.oblible.com The Programme provides that Notes may be listed or admitted to trading, as the case may be, on such other or further stock exchanges or markets as may be agreed between the Issuer and the relevant Dealer. The Issuer may also issue unlisted Notes and/or Notes not admitted to trading on any market. The Issuer may agree with any Dealer and the Trustee (as defined herein) that Notes may be issued in a form not contemplated by the Terms and Conditions of the Notes herein, in which event a supplement to the Base Prospectus, in the case of listed Notes only, if appropriate, will be made available which will describe the effect of the agreement reached in relation to such Notes. The Issuer has been rated "BBB" (stable outlook) by Standard & Poor's Credit Market Services Italy S.r.l. (S&P ) and "Baa1" (negative outlook) by Moody's Investors Service Ltd ( Moody’s ). The Programme has been rated "BBB" by S&P and "Baa1" by Moody's. Each of S&P and Moody's is established in the European Union and is registered under the Regulation (EC) No. 1060/2009 (as amended) (the CRA Regulation ). As such each of Moody's and S&P is included in the list of credit ratings agencies published by the European Securities and Markets Authority on its website (at http://www.esma.europa.eu/page/List-registered-and-certified-CRAs) in accordance with the CRA Regulation. Notes issued under the Programme may be rated or unrated by any one or more of the rating agencies referred to above. Where a Tranche of Notes is rated, such rating will be disclosed in the Final Terms and will not necessarily be the same as the rating assigned to the Programme by the relevant rating agency. A security rating and an issuer’s corporate rating are not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities and may be subject to suspension, reduction or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating agency . Arranger Mediobanca Dealers Banca IMI BNP PARIBAS Citigroup Crédit Agricole CIB Deutsche Bank Mediobanca Société Générale Corporate & Investment The Royal Bank of Scotland Banking UniCredit Bank The date of this Base Prospectus is 4 June 2014 IMPORTANT INFORMATION This Base Prospectus comprises a base prospectus for the purposes of Article 5.4 of Directive 2003/71/EC (the Prospectus Directive) as amended (which includes the amendments made by Directive 2010/73/EU (the 2010 PD Amending Directive) to the extent that such amendments have been implemented in a relevant Member State of the European Economic Area, and for the purposes of the Luxembourg Act. The Issuer accepts responsibility for the information contained in this Base Prospectus and the Final Terms for each Tranche of Notes issued under the Programme. To the best of the knowledge of the Issuer (having taken all reasonable care to ensure that such is the case) the information contained in this Base Prospectus is in accordance with the facts and does not omit anything likely to affect the import of such information. Subject as provided in the applicable Final Terms, the only persons authorised to use this Base Prospectus in connection with any Tranche of Notes are the persons named in the applicable Final Terms as the relevant Dealer or the Managers, as the case may be. Copies of Final Terms will be available from the registered office of the Issuer and the specified office set out below of each of the Paying Agents (as defined below). In respect of information in this Base Prospectus that has been extracted from a third party source, the Issuer confirms that such information has been accurately reproduced and that, so far as it is aware, and is able to ascertain from information published by third parties, no facts have been omitted which would render the reproduced information inaccurate or misleading. Although the Issuer believes that the external sources used are reliable, the Issuer has not independently verified the information provided by such sources. This Base Prospectus is to be read in conjunction with all documents which are deemed to be incorporated herein by reference (see " Documents Incorporated by Reference "). This Base Prospectus shall be read and construed on the basis that such documents are incorporated and form part of this Base Prospectus. No representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, is made by the Dealers or the Trustee and no responsibility or liability is accepted by the Dealers or the Trustee as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained or incorporated in this Base Prospectus or any other information provided by the Issuer in connection with the Programme. No Dealer or the Trustee accepts any liability in relation to the information contained or incorporated by reference in this Base Prospectus or any other information provided by the Issuer in connection with the Programme. No person is or has been authorised by the Issuer or the Trustee to give any information or to make any representation not contained in or not consistent with this Base Prospectus or any other information supplied in connection with the Programme or the Notes and, if given or made, such information or representation must not be relied upon as having been authorised by the Issuer, any of the Dealers or the Trustee. i Neither this Base Prospectus nor any other information supplied in connection with the Programme or any Notes (a) is intended to provide the basis of any credit or other evaluation or (b) should be considered as a recommendation by the Issuer, any of the Dealers or the Trustee that any recipient of this Base Prospectus or any other information supplied in connection with the Programme or any Notes should purchase any Notes. Each investor contemplating purchasing any Notes should make its own independent investigation of the financial condition and affairs, and its own appraisal of the creditworthiness, of the Issuer. Each recipient of this Base Prospectus or any Final Terms shall be taken to have made its own investigation and appraisal of the condition (financial or otherwise) of the Issuer and the Hera Group (as defined below) and of the rights attaching to the relevant Notes and reach its own view, based upon its own judgement and upon advice from such financial, legal and tax advisers as it has deemed necessary, prior to making any investment decision.