Financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Denmark will receive a boost after an agreement signed today between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Spar Nord, the seventh largest Danish financial institution. Under the agreement, the EIB will provide up to EUR 40 m for onward lending to SMEs where the funds will finance small and medium-scale projects.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the European economy and their role is especially significant in Denmark. This is why we are delighted to sign this important agreement on SME financing with Spar Nord,” said Plutarchos Sakellaris, EIB Vice President responsible for Denmark, at a visit to clients and client projects in four Danish cities.
“The market price for money has risen and this means it is highly advantageous to borrow at the terms which the European Investment Bank offers. Our ambition is to attract 1,000 new corporate customers to the bank in 2011. We will become even more attractive as a corporate bank with this agreement in place, as it enables us to provide companies with financing at better terms,” said Kim Christensen, credit director of Spar Nord.
Spar Nord is the second Danish bank in recent years to sign an SME loan with the EIB. In 2009 and 2010 such agreements were signed with Ringkjøbing Landbobank.
Background information:
The mission of the EIB, the European Union’s bank, is to contribute to the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the EU Member States by financing sound investments. The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, whose shareholders are the 27 member states.
Spar Nord is a full-service commercial bank with 71 branches throughout Denmark. With its base in Northern Jutland, the bank has approximately 275,000 customers of which 14,000 are corporates. Since 1990 Spar Nord’s shares are listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.