Shearman & Sterling represented the issuer and guarantor in their placement of more than €1.26 billion in guaranteed exchangeable notes for UniCredito Italiano Group, Italy's largest banking group by market capitalization.  The notes were issued by UniCredito Italiano Bank (Ireland) p.l.c. and are guaranteed by UniCredito Italiano S.p.A.  They are exchangeable for ordinary shares of Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A.

Through this transaction, the UniCredito Group is unwinding its approximately 6% stake in Assicurazioni Generali (Italy's leading insurance company).  This deal is believed to represent the first exchangeable notes offering done by an Irish issuer and is the largest ever done involving an Italian underlying company.