EIB agreement to help unlock over €18 billion in funding for SMEs

Intesa Sanpaolo and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have signed an agreement that will help unlock more than €18 billion in new funding for small- and medium-sized Italian businesses to meet the challenge of the post-COVID-19 recovery.

The agreement between Intesa Sanpaolo and the European Investment Bank (EIB) is the first transaction in Italy to support factoring operations thanks to the Pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF), one of the European Union’s instruments in response to the pandemic. Moreover, it is the largest operation supported by the EGF in the European Union as a whole, based on the amount of liquidity that will be supplied to businesses.

The agreement between Intesa Sanpaolo and EIB enables companies to provide new liquidity to businesses by financing their working capital through reverse factoring and confirming products, specifically dedicated to supply chains.

Intesa Sanpaolo estimates that a total of over 50,000 SMEs and around 150 large corporates and mid-caps will benefit over the three-year period. It is also estimated that support to SMEs for the supply chain finance cycle will reach around €18.2 billion on a three-year basis.

Intesa Sanpaolo’s Supply Chain Development Programme already numbers more than 800 supply chain leaders with 20,500 connected suppliers across Italy.