The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a loan of 150 million euros to Bank Ibercaja for funding investment projects and providing the working capital needed by SMEs and mid-cap Spanish companies (up to 3,000 employees). The agreement has been ratified today in Zaragoza in a signing ceremony involving the EIB’s Vice-President Román Escolano and Ibercaja’s CEO, Víctor Iglesias.
This is EIB’s second loan to Ibercaja within the line of specific EIB funding for SMEs and medium-sized companies. The previous loan, which was for a total of 200 million euros, was signed in 2015 and all its funds have already been awarded to more than 4,000 SMEs and 66 mid-cap companies. As in the previous operation, it will be possible to finance both leasing and classic lending operations under the EIB loan.
At the signing ceremony, EIB Vice-President Román Escolano said: «This loan to Ibercaja will enable EIB to provide financing under favourable conditions to a greater number of companies that will have access to the loans they need to carry out their investment projects and thus to enrich our economy’s production process and create jobs. Signing this loan also demonstrates the EIB’s commitment to SMEs and mid-cap companies in Spain, recognizing their key role as vehicles for generating economic growth».
For his part, Ibercaja CEO Víctor Iglesias declared his satisfaction at finding the balance for the collaboration that EIB and Ibercaja have been working towards up until now: «The companies’ activity in these last two years has had a favourable outcome thanks to the new investments and funding that have been required. The collaboration we continue to enjoy today will allow Ibercaja, like its predecessor, to meet growth targets with small and medium-sized enterprises, which are a key sector in the Bank’s Strategic Plan for 2015-2017».
4,444 operations have been signed under this agreement. 3,044 of these are related to the closing of leasing deals for a total of €125 million, and 1,400 to loans for the remaining €75 million, making up the €200 million euros of the line.
The agreement that has been signed today will be channeled exclusively through leasing operations. Besides the same advantageous financial and economic conditions, this formula has important tax benefits for companies. In 2016, Ibercaja Leasing recorded the highest growth rate since the start of its activity 26 years ago: 4,821 new contracts were written, representing a growth of 43% compared to 2015.
©Ibercaja
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