KONE INNOVATIVE PEOPLE FLOW RDI II

The project comprises investments in Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) in the field of elevators, escalators, auto-walks, automatic doors, as well as intelligent technologies and solutions for people flow. Investments are to be carried out primarily in Finland and for the remaining part in Italy over the period 2022-2025.

The project aims at improving the energy efficiency and functional performance of the product range, developing new solutions and new products, as well as leveraging digitalisation and IoT to provide new services and improve customers' experience.

The RDI activities included in the financed project cover a wide range of developments in the fields of elevators, escalators, auto-walks, automatic doors as well as intelligent technologies and solutions for people flow. These RDI activities generate significant positive knowledge, technology and environmental externalities, through the creation of innovative processes, products or services and through skills development and upgrading.

The Promoter's investments address the market failures and gaps associated with projects with positive knowledge, environmental and safety externalities generation.

The project will have important positive knowledge spillovers through R&D cooperation with industrial and academic partners, R&D cooperation with upstream suppliers, and inter-group mobility of highly skilled staff and R&D personnel. The project also contributes to increasing the technological competence and leadership of the European elevator and related sectors.

Positive environmental spillovers through the development and manufacturing of products that help improve the energy efficiency of the buildings where they will find application.

The EIB support to this operation is expected to provide tangible financial benefit, positively contributing to the promoter's RDI investment implementation. The loan's long tenor combined with flexible disbursement and repayment terms, features not to the same extent available from commercial banks or debt capital markets, are well suited for the project's projected cash flows. The loan is expected to provide positive signalling effect to other financiers, thereby facilitating the project's financing and implementation.

The project consist of RDI activities that are not listed in any of the Annexes of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive 2011/92/EU amended by the Directive 2014/52/EU. The environmental details will be verified during the project appraisal.

The promoter has been assessed by the EIB as being a private company not being subject to EU rules on public procurement or concessions. However, if at the project appraisal, the EIB were to conclude that the promoter is subject to the EU public procurement legislation then the Bank would duly inform the Commission Services and would require the promoter to apply those rules.