EIB signed with Landesbank Saar (SaarLB) the first risk-sharing Facility under its Structured Finance Facility (SFF) in Germany. The facility comprises a € 100 million global loan (funding) window and a parallel € 50 million guarantee (risk-sharing) window. The Facility, which will be used by SaarLB to finance RDI projects in the automotive supply industry, is based on Technology Leasing operations and has been developed with the partners SaarLB and Deutsche Leasing.

The partnership between the Bank and SaarLB allows the Bank to take credit risk also of smaller companies which normally would be beyond the reach of the EIB.

EIB Vice-President Mr Kollatz-Ahnen said: “The Facility will significantly increase the EIB’s value added by participating in the credit risk of the operation, thus fostering the capacity of SaarLB and Deutsche Leasing to do more business with these counterparts and the sector.”

Under the Facility, SaarLB can request from EIB risk participation under the guarantee window for up to 25% of the project costs. With its participation in the credit risk of the SaarLB, the EIB plays the role of a “pathfinder” by supporting the financing of research and technology transfer in automotive supply companies. It contributes also to the market development of intellectual property rights based lending in Germany. Furthermore, the Facility may provide for a scalable risk-sharing product that can be applied in other technology sectors and/or geographical areas.

Background :

The EIB has established a Structured Finance Facility (SFF) in order to match the types of funding to the requirements of projects with a high-risk profile and to pursue its equity financing and guarantee operations in favour of large-scale infrastructure schemes. Total reserves of 750 million have been set aside under this heading over the next three years for the purpose of generating operations amounting to between 1.5 and 2.5 billion, providing a broad mix of financial products. The aim of the SFF is to furnish value added for priority projects by complementing the commercial banks and capital markets. These operations will be undertaken chiefly in the countries of the European Union, but also in non-member countries.