Austria: Raiffeisen-Leasing completes EUR 440m securitisation transaction

• “ROOF Leasing Austria S.A. Comp. 2016”
• Collaboration with European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund
• Raiffeisen Bank International AG as sole arranger
• Competitive leasing finance for small and medium-sized enterprises

The EIB Group, consisting of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), has supported a Raiffeisen-Leasing securitisation transaction of EUR 440m. EIB invested EUR 150m and ING Germany EUR 250m in the senior notes. The tranche by ING Germany is covered by an EIF guarantee. Raiffeisen-Leasing subscribed to the mezzanine tranche of around EUR 40m. The transaction was structured, arranged and placed by Raiffeisen Bank International AG as the sole arranger.

This is the first public ABS transaction in which the EIB Group has participated in Austria. It will contribute to further opening up the securitisation market for financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

With this operation, Raiffeisen-Leasing is developing additional sources of financing for its strategic business area of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). “We are very pleased that we will be able to offer our SME customers leasing contracts on particularly attractive terms over the next few years”, stated Raiffeisen-Leasing’s CEO Alexander Schmidecker.

Ambroise Fayolle, the EIB Vice-President responsible for lending in Austria, said, “SMEs are crucial for the innovation and competitiveness of the European economies as well as for employment. Improving access of small and medium-sized businesses to affordable finance is one of the priorities of the EU bank. This includes making greater use of the securitisation market in Europe and I therefore welcome this transaction of EIB and EIF with Raiffeisen-Leasing.”

This securitisation transaction complements EIB’s direct lending to the Austrian financial sector and enables higher financing volumes and the transfer of a bigger financial advantage to SMEs and mid-caps (firms with up to 3 000 employees) than would be possible with direct loans only.

EIF Chief Executive Pier Luigi Gilibert commented. “This new transaction demonstrates the European Investment Fund’s commitment to help SMEs across Europe to grow and create jobs, including here in Austria. The joint EIB and EIF support enables the EIB Group to increase the financing volumes for SMEs and mid-caps. I am pleased that EIF’s involvement could act as a catalyst for the participation of private investors in the transaction.”

ING Director Jacob Binnema emphasised: “This transaction is an important source of funding for the client and has enabled the client to diversify its funding sources. ING is lead lender which has deepened the existing strong relationship with the RBI group and EIF even further.”