• Deutsche Leasing will provide new leases on favourable terms to small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and mid-caps in Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary and other EU countries.
  • A first tranche of the operation has been signed for €50 million.
  • The loan has a two-fold focus on cohesion, accounting for 50% of the projects, and green investments, with 30% of green leases.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Deutsche Leasing have announced a project designed to support small business and mid-cap leases for a total project cost of €560 million, with a total of €200 million of EIB financing approved.

Under this programme, Deutsche Leasing is focusing on financing machinery and technologies that lead to energy savings, low-carbon mobility and other environmental solutions, thereby supporting the green transformation of small businesses and mid-caps.

Deutsche Leasing will use the EIB loan to finance small and medium-sized companies (with fewer than 250 employees) and mid-caps (with up to 3 000 employees) in the above-mentioned EU Member States.

The beneficiaries will be able to use the funds for long-term investment projects. As the EIB has the highest possible credit rating (AAA), it can raise funds on the capital markets on favourable terms.

EIB Vice-President Kyriacos Kakouris said: "Our project with Deutsche Leasing will bolster the European Union’s economic, social and territorial cohesion and help to address existing market failures. By supporting SME and mid-cap projects, the EIB sends a positive signal to private investors and thus incentivises further financing."

Jörn van Rossum, Director of Division Group Treasury of Deutsche Leasing, said: "We are delighted to extend our good cooperation with the EIB, especially in financing further growth in our European network. Refinanced by EIB, Deutsche Leasing ensures for our clients generating positive effects related to job creation, innovative products or services, skills development and digital upgrading."

This operation continues the EIB’s cooperation with Deutsche Leasing and is also in synergy with the synthetic securitisations of 2020 and 2023 signed with Deutsche Leasing Romania, part of the same group, consisting of guarantees for financing small businesses and mid-caps.

Background information

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term financing institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. The EIB's remit is to contribute to the achievement of the European Union’s policy objectives by providing long-term finance for viable projects. The EIB’s activities focus on the following priority areas: climate and environment, development, innovation and skills, small and medium-sized businesses, infrastructure, and cohesion. The EIB works closely with other EU institutions to foster European integration, promote the development of the European Union and support EU policies in over 160 countries around the world.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF contributes to the pursuit of key EU policy objectives such as competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitalisation, social impact, skills and human capital, climate action and environmental sustainability, and more.

The Deutsche Leasing Group is the leading solution-oriented asset finance partner for German small businesses and one of the leading providers of leasing in Europe, offering a broad range of investment-related financing solutions (asset finance) as well as supplementary services (asset services). Within Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, Deutsche Leasing is the centre of excellence for leasing, factoring and other SME-oriented asset finance solutions and supplementary services in Germany and other countries. In its international business segment, Deutsche Leasing supports its customers’ activities in more than 20 locations, including its core European export markets, as well as in China, the United States, Canada and Brazil.