Financial helping hand to Danish SMEs: guarantee agreement to support green investments

• Danish SMEs and Mid-Caps can now obtain funding for green investments of DKK 320 million through a new guarantee agreement between the EIF and Ringkjøbing Landbobank.
• The agreement marks the first collaboration between the two parties and is supported under the European Commission’s InvestEU initiative.
• The financing option will make it easier for businesses to invest in green initiatives and increase their competitiveness.

Luxembourg/Brussels/Ringkøbing, 14 October 2024: Ringkjøbing Landbobank and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have signed a guarantee agreement which is expected to enable up to DKK 320 million of new green investments by Danish SMEs and small Mid-Caps. The guarantee, supported under the European Commission’s InvestEU initiative, is meant for climate change mitigation and sustainability investments, with a focus on renewable energy projects, such as wind turbines and solar panels.

“The guarantee agreement reflects Ringkjøbing Landbobank’s clear desire to support businesses and finance investments that take our customers to the next level in the green transition in their industry”, says John Fisker, CEO of Ringkjøbing Landbobank. “We are pleased with this new partnership with EIF. We have a common goal in Europe on the green transition, and this guarantee agreement further strengthens our bank’s market position and supports our customers’ competitiveness by financing new investments”.

“The EIF is making serious work of supporting the green transition through its financing for SMEs and small Mid-Caps.” added EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt. “We are very active in Denmark this year, and this collaboration is testament not only to the EIB Group’s longstanding relationship with Ringkjøbing Landbobank, but also to our intention to be a point of reference for Danish financial intermediaries when it comes to climate finance.”

The agreement aims to improve access to finance for those small companies that plan investments to support their green transition, as well as to increase their productivity and competitiveness. The final decision on intermediated loans under this facility rests with Ringkjøbing Landbobank.

Earlier this year, Landbobank signed a DKK 745 million (€100 million) loan agreement with the European Investment Bank, of which the EIF is a subsidiary, to be on-lent to eligible Danish small and medium-sized businesses and Mid-Caps to improve their access to finance and support their green transition.

Background information

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the EIB Group. It supports Europe’s SMEs by improving their access to finance through a wide range of selected financial intermediaries. The EIF designs, promotes and implements equity and debt financing instruments targeting SMEs. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of entrepreneurship, growth, innovation, research and development, the green and digital transitions and employment.

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable economy. It helps generate additional investments in line with EU policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal, the digital transition and support for small and medium-sized enterprises. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments together under one roof, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub, and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners who invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. This guarantee increases their risk-bearing capacity, thus mobilising at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Ringkjøbing Landbobank A/S is a regional, full-service Danish bank with a loan and guarantees portfolio of approx. €7 billion. The bank is focused on retail customers, primarily SMEs and personal customers, in West, Central and North Jutland together with niches, where the bank has strong expertise, including Private Banking and renewable energy. Ringkjøbing Landbobank builds on customer relationships based on the values of acting competently, responsively and properly. Since the beginning in 1886, the bank has focused on credit line management and cost control.

Press contacts

EIB: Tim Smit | +352 691 286 423 | t.smit@eib.org 

Ringkjøbing Landbobank: Joachim Borg Hjalager | +45 7624 9581 | jh@landbobanken.dk