The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Materialise entered into a finance contract to support Materialise’s ongoing research and development programs for growth from 2017 to 2020. The operation is backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), which is the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe (IPE).
At the conclusion of the contract, EIB Vice-President Pim Van Ballekom said: “One of the primary objectives of the Investment Plan for Europe is to support innovation and, on that front, it doesn’t get much more innovative than companies like Materialise.” “The Bank has been expanding its support for cutting-edge technology thanks to the EU budget guarantee and we can only be proud to support European Innovation with this type of funding.”
The contract signed today provides a credit of up to EUR 35 million drawable in two tranches. The first cannot exceed EUR 25 million and can be drawn during the first year of the contract. The second tranche can be drawn during the second year of the contract, subject to a specified debt ratio being met. The duration of the loan will be between six to eight years starting from the disbursement of the respective tranches.
Loans under the contract will be made at a fixed rate, based on the Euribor rate at the time of the borrowing, plus a variable margin. The margin is initially equal to 1.86% and varies in function of certain EBITDA levels and debt ratios. The contract contains customary securities, covenants and undertakings.