Spain: EUR 65 million loan under InnovFin programme for Tubacex’s RDI

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Tubacex, a leader in the manufacturing of stainless steel and high-alloyed seamless tubes, have concluded a EUR 65 million loan agreement in support of Tubacex’s RDI. EIB Vice-President Román Escolano and Tubacex’s CEO Jesús Esmorís signed the finance contract today in Madrid.

In line with Tubacex’s strategic planning, the EIB loan will help the company to diversify into higher value added products and services. It will finance RDI in the area of new steel products and qualities along with innovation and the improvement of production process.

The EIB Vice-President stressed “the importance of RDI investment, which is a priority objective for the Bank and the EU in fostering the knowledge economy and enhancing the technological capacity of innovative companies".

Tubacex’s CEO Jesús Esmorís said that the loan would provide a boost in one of the company’s priority areas: "This agreement will underpin the development of innovative solutions for our customers, enabling us to take a qualitative leap from our traditional offer into higher value added products and services".

This is the first operation that the EIB has signed with Tubacex. The investments financed will be carried out at the company’s existing facilities, mainly in Spain but also in Austria and Italy, over the period 2015 to 2019.

By financing these RDI investments, the EIB is supporting Tubacex throughout its economic cycle by strengthening it on its growth path and helping to safeguard skilled research jobs.

Tubacex’s R&D project is receiving the support of "InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators", a new range of EIB Group products backed by the financial instruments of the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme and designed to facilitate innovative companies’ access to finance.

Background

TUBACEX is a multinational group with its headquarters in Alava and a global leader in the manufacture of stainless steel and high-alloyed seamless tubes. It has production plants in Spain, Austria, China, Italy, the United States and India with service centres in Brazil, France and Houston, as well as subsidiaries and sales offices in fourteen countries.

InnovFin financial products

Under Horizon 2020, the EU research programme for 2014-20, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group (EIB and EIF) have launched a new generation of financial instruments and advisory services in 2014 to help innovative firms access finance more easily. Until 2020, "InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators" offers a range of tailored products which will make available more than EUR 24bn of financing support for research and innovation (R&I) by small, medium-sized and large companies and the promoters of research infrastructures. This finance is expected to support up to EUR 48bn of final R&I investments.

Backed by funds set aside under Horizon 2020 and by the EIB Group, InnovFin financial products support R&I activities, which by their nature are riskier and harder to assess than traditional investments, and therefore often face difficulties in accessing finance. All are demand-driven instruments, with no prior allocations between sectors, countries or regions. Firms and other entities located in EU Member States and Horizon 2020 Associated Countries will be eligible as final beneficiaries.

InnovFin Large Projects aims to improve access to risk finance for R&I projects emanating from larger firms, universities and public research organisations, R&I infrastructures (including innovation-enabling infrastructures), public-private partnerships, and special-purpose vehicles or projects (including those promoting first-of-a-kind, commercial-scale industrial demonstration projects). Loans and guarantees from EUR 25m to EUR 300m will be delivered directly by the EIB.