THE WINE AND FINANCE WORLDS MEET AGAIN: ZENIT SGR, AN INDEPENDENT ITALIAN ASSET MANAGEMENT FIRM HAS SIGNED A 2 MILLION EURO INVESTMENT MINI BOND ISSUED BY PICCINI ESTATE AND GUARANTEED BY CHIANTI AND BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO

The wine and finance worlds meet again: Zenit SGR, an independent Italian asset management firm, has signed a 2 million euro investment in mini-bond issued by Gestioni Piccini, i.e., Tenute Piccini, one of the most influential wine companies in Tuscany and other regions as well, counting 500 hectares of vineyards (Fattoria Valiano in Castelnuovo Berardenga; Tenuta Moraia in Tuscan Maremma; Villa al Cortile in Montalcino, and Regio Cantina in Basilicata) and 50 million euros turnover in 2015 (70% exports to 70 countries). In August 2016 (https://goo.gl/XD8Bll) the company announced it issued a mini-bond for the value of 5 million euros to sustain further expansion on foreign markets and the quality wine sector, with a coupon rate of 5.5%, for a total amount of 5 million euros, duration six years and repayment starting in 2018.

“The above-mentioned loan, comprised of fifty debt securities with a nominal value of 100.000 euros each”, reads a company statement, “is senior secured, guaranteed by a lien on wine production of different vintages and varieties, mainly Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino. This is the first trading guaranteed debt instrument issued and admitted by wine-derived goods”.

“The Piccini Management MiniBond is the eleventh investment of the SME Fund”, said Giovanni Scrofani, head of Zenit SGR’s Italy MiniBond Fund Project. “We are proud to continue our contribution to the real growth of the economy of our country by investing in company projects in different Made in Italy sectors, to offer our investors a diversified portfolio and excellent performance”.
It also represents a great opportunity for companies, as the CEO Mario Piccini had explained when the mini-bond was issued, “our firm was interested in confronting the constantly evolving credit market. This has meant that our choice was geared to issuing a bond listed on the Professional Segment of the Italian Stock Exchange ExtraMOT. I think this transaction allowed our firm to not a strictly conventional opening to the credit market, stimulating us to give our best with more transparency and attract new investors who support us in our strategies for achieving more ambitious goals”.