The EIF will allocate €2.5 billion from the Next Generation Fund to boost Spanish SMEs in innovation, sustainability and competitiveness.

The European Investment Fund (EIF), the European Investment Bank Group’s (EIB Group) equity investment arm for SMEs and midcaps, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise and eleven financial institutions have signed guarantee agreements that will enable financial institutions to channel EUR 2.5 billion of new funding to the real economy. The funding will go to SMEs and midcaps that want to invest in innovation, sustainability and competitiveness. The guarantees are provided thanks to a contribution from the Next Generation EU-funded Regional Resilience Fund (ARF) and the EIF’s own funds. The FRA contribution is made through the State Box of the InvestEU programme.

 

 

More than 6,000 Spanish SMEs and mid-cap companies are expected to benefit from the new financing offer, which will facilitate investments in research, development, innovation, energy efficiency, social economy and digitalisation, among other areas. The investments will enable companies to face the double green and digital transition and will contribute to the competitiveness of this important segment of the Spanish business fabric.

The announcement took place today at the presentation event of the InvestEU State Compartment Guarantee Programme under the FRA held today in Madrid, which was attended by Inés Carpio, Director General of International Financing of the Treasury, Marco Marrone Chief Investment Officer of the EIF, Lucas Ojeda, Acting Director of the European Commission Representation in Spain, and representatives of the various financial institutions participating in the programme. The event was also attended by representatives of the Autonomous Communities, the Spanish investment ecosystem and the business sector.

Signatory financial institutions include commercial banks, regional promotional banks and debt funds complementary to traditional bank financing. This broad range of entities ensures that companies can access a wide variety of debt instruments that are tailored to their different capital needs.

“These guarantee agreements will make it easier for SMEs and mid-caps to access the finance they need to invest in innovation and accelerate their green and digital transition,” said Marco Marrone, EIF Chief Investment Officer. “They are a clear example of a public-private partnership that will strengthen the competitiveness of Spanish businesses and reflect the EIF’s ability to mobilise large volumes of financing through cooperation with all financial institutions..

“With these signatures, it will be possible to deploy practically the entire fourth instrument of the FRA, which joins the direct co-financing instrument, the intermediated instrument for urban development and sustainable tourism, and the alternative financing for sustainable development. Inés Carpio, Director General of International Finance at the Treasury, said: “In this way we continue to provide financing to companies, with a comprehensive approach, with instruments that adapt to the needs of each one”.

Lucas González Ojeda, Acting Director of the European Commission Representation in Spain commented: “Events like today’s attest to the ability of the Next Generation EU-funded Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM) to support and implement public investment, thereby boosting growth and jobs in Spain and Europe.The Autonomous Resilience Fund of Spain’s recovery and resilience plan will support SMEs, contributing to green/digital growth and improving the competitiveness of the European economy”.

The InvestEU State Compartment Guarantee Programme under the FRA is having a great acceptance in the market which allows that today, six months after its launch, guarantee agreements are signed with eleven financial institutions whose positive impact covers all 17 Autonomous Communities and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

The guarantees are made thanks to the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, financed by NextGeneration EU, specifically the contribution of the Autonomous Community Resilience Fund. The FRA contribution is made through the InvestEU State Box. The InvestEU State Box allows Member States to contribute funds from their recovery and resilience plans to the guarantee offered by the EU allowing for scaling up the funding available for national priorities.

Guarantee agreements have been signed with Andbank (through Actyus Growth Finance), BBVA, CaixaBank, EBN Banco, ICF, Inveready, Kutxabank, MicroBank, Santander, Tresmares and Unicaja (through Seneca Direct Lending).

During the event there was also a panel discussion on the opportunities offered by the InvestEU guarantee programme for Spanish SMEs. This panel was attended by InvestEU beneficiary companies such as ECOALF, IriusRisk and NEOS Surgery.

Caption: Inés Carpio, Director General of International Financing of the Treasury, Marco Marrone, Chief Investment Officer of the EIF, Lucas González Ojeda, Acting Director of the European Commission Representation in Spain and representatives of the eleven signatories of the guarantee agreements.

General information about the EIF

About the European Investment Fund (EIF)

The EIF is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its core mission is to support European micro, small and medium-sized enterprises by facilitating their access to finance. The EIF designs and develops venture capital and growth capital instruments, guarantees and microfinance instruments specifically targeted at this market segment. Through its activity, it contributes to key EU policy objectives such as competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitisation, social impact, skills and human capital, climate action and environmental sustainability.

About InvestEU and the State Box

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by mobilising substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps to stimulate private investment in support of EU policy priorities such as the European Green Pact and the digital transition. InvestEU brings together under one umbrella the EU financial instruments previously available to support investment in the European Union, making the financing of investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through partners who will invest in projects, using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The full budget guarantee will support partners’ investment projects, increase their risk-bearing capacity and mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investments.

Member States can contribute to the provisioning of the EU guarantee by channelling part of their Cohesion Policy or Recovery and Resilience Facility funds to the State Box of the InvestEU Fund. In this way, Member States will benefit from the EU guarantee and its high credit rating, further leveraging national and regional investments.

 

About the Autonomous Community Resilience Fund

The Regional Resilience Fund (FRA) was created to facilitate access to Next Generation EU loans under the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for the Spanish Autonomous Communities, with the objective of boosting investments and developing projects in eight priority areas: social and affordable housing, urban regeneration, sustainable transport and tourism, energy transition, water and waste management, care economy, research, development and innovation, and industrial and small and medium-sized enterprise competitiveness.

The FRA is promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, with the participation of the Autonomous Communities and Cities on its investment boards and the EIB Group as a strategic partner in its management. The first phase of the FRA includes the activation of financing of up to EUR 3.4 billion through:

• a direct facility, to co-finance EIB-supported operations in sectors such as renewable energy, clean transport or sustainable infrastructure
• an intermediated facility, managed by financial intermediaries selected by the EIB, to support urban development and sustainable tourism projects

two instruments brokered by the European Investment Fund, which will facilitate SME financing for innovation, sustainability and competitiveness.

 

More information: European Commission.