Rome, 14 September 2020 - Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Spa (CDP) has launched a new Social Bond on the capital market today, targeted at Italian companies investing in research, development and innovation, and those hit hard by the Covid-19 emergency. The goal is to support their future growth and jobs. The issue, intended for institutional investors, totals 750 million euro with a 8-year maturity. The transaction follows the “Covid-19 Social Response Bond” issuance of April 2020, whose funds were used to provide a timely response to the emergency resulting from the pandemic and to support the Country’s economic recovery. At its fifth Social Bond issuance, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti is further strengthening its commitment to sustainable finance and confirming its position as one of the leading European players in the ESG social bond market. The funds raised through this transaction will be used to finance investments in the production sector that will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals promoted by the United Nations, with particular reference to SDGs 8 and 9 (respectively: “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all” and “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”). Sustainability has always been part of CDP’s DNA and this commitment has been further strengthened with the 2019-2021 Business Plan. In this new role, during the pandemic CDP put in place an extensive programme of extraordinary measures to support businesses and local communities. Today CDP is renewing this commitment, making the Group’s expertise available for the recovery of Italy along a path of sustainable development. The Chief Executive Officer of CDP Fabrizio Palermo stated: ”With the issuance of the new Social Bond, CDP is confirming its commitment in support of Italy’s sustainable growth through a strong backing of the businesses in our country. We firmly believe that a sustainable economy represents an important growth opportunity for businesses and an unmissable chance to boost Italy’s recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The strong demand from institutional investors, particularly Socially Responsible Investors (SRIs), confirms the market’s confidence in CDP and the soundness of our sustainability strategy”. The new “CDP Social Bond 2020” – issued under the Debt Issuance Programme (DIP), CDP’s medium-long term issuance programme totalling 15 billion euro – is a fixed-rate, unsubordinated and unsecured bond with a nominal value of 750 million euro and a 1% gross annual coupon. The issuance was subscribed by over 180 investors, 76% of whom foreign, thus recording the highest component of foreign investors among all of CDP’s ESG bonds. The medium/long-term rating of the securities, whose admission to trading on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange was applied for, will be equal to BBB (negative) for S&P, BBB- (stable) for Fitch and BBB+ (negative) for Scope. Barclays, Crédit Agricole CIB, HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, JP Morgan, Mediobanca and UniCredit acted as Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners for the transaction