Research Update: Italian Energy Purchaser And Strategic Oil Reserves Manager Acquirente Unico Assigned 'BBB' Rating; Outlook Stable

We believe that Acquirente Unico SpA plays a critical role for the Italian government thanks to its dual mission as centralized purchaser of electricity and manager of Italy's strategic oil reserves through its operational unit OCSIT (Organismo Centrale di Stoccaggio Italiano). We also believe that Acquirente Unico benefits from a strong legal status that ensures the financial balance of all its operating activities. In our view, there is an almost certain likelihood that Acquirente Unico would receive timely and sufficient extraordinary support from the Italian government in the event of financial distress. We are assigning our 'BBB' long-term issuer credit rating to Acquirente Unico, and equalizing it with our long-term sovereign rating on Italy. The stable outlook on Acquirente Unico

...+ We believe that Acquirente Unico SpA plays a critical role for the Italian government thanks to its dual mission as centralized purchaser of electricity and manager of Italy's strategic oil reserves through its operational unit OCSIT (Organismo Centrale di Stoccaggio Italiano). + We also believe that Acquirente Unico benefits from a strong legal status that ensures the financial balance of all its operating activities. + In our view, there is an almost certain likelihood that Acquirente Unico would receive timely and sufficient extraordinary support from the Italian government in the event of financial distress. + We are assigning our '###' long-term issuer credit rating to Acquirente Unico, and equalizing it with our long-term sovereign rating on Italy. + The stable outlook on Acquirente Unico reflects that on Italy and our belief that Acquirente Unico's critical role for Italy and integral link with Italy will not change....

Research Update