The Italian government launched this third tranche privatisation offering during a period of few large equity transactions. This was the largest European deal in 2004, and in fact one of the largest since 2000. The Japan offering was extremely successful, more than five times oversubscribed, while demand for the overall deal was three times as predicted. The company visited Europe, the US and Asia with two teams, drawing large crowds in all the financial centres, whether Paris, New York or Stockholm.