ENI plays exchangeable-only card, trumps Snam block hopes

Italian energy firm ENI has to divest a 20% stake in gas network Snam in 2013, but where the market felt that a block trade or perhaps a concurrent offering might be on the cards, it instead launched a standalone exchangeable bond. The tactic — different to the one pursued in selling a stake in Galp Energia in November — helped it take advantage of rich convertible valuations while removing a large element of the Snam overhang.