InvestEU: EIF extends support to Europe’s cultural creative businesses and audiovisual sector

• EIF guarantee agreements will facilitate more than €141 million of new financing for creative sectors via intermediaries from France, Germany, and Finland.
• These agreements are supported by the InvestEU programme, which aims to trigger more than €372 billion in additional investments over the period 2021-2027.
• They aim to remedy a market failure in the cultural and creative sectors (CCS) and to stimulate European audiovisual production by facilitating its financing.

On the sidelines of the 77th Cannes Film Festival, the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the European Commission announced a series of agreements that will boost SMEs and small mid-caps in Europe’s cultural and creative sectors. These EIF guarantee transactions are backed by the InvestEU programme. They will facilitate access to finance for these businesses via intermediaries from France, Germany, and Finland. These agreements are expected to mobilise around €141 million of new financing for cultural and creative businesses and projects in Europe.

A transaction has just been signed between the EIF and the French Institut pour le Financement du Cinéma et des Industries Culturelles (IFCIC), a long-standing EIF partner in the Cultural and Creative sectors with clients both in France and in other European countries. IFCIC will benefit from the Invest EU Cultural and Creative Portfolio Guarantee Product (CCS GP). The European Union's support is expected to leverage a portfolio of around €85 million of financing.

Thanks to the Invest EU Cultural and Creative Portfolio Guarantee Product, IFCIC will be able to provide eligible debt financing to SMEs, small mid-caps and small public enterprises active in the CCS sectors that are perceived to be riskier. A significant portion of the guaranteed portfolio targets businesses in the audio-visual sector where banks lack the know-how to assess expected cashflows and productions success.

The second approved transaction concerns Beta Film, a German Munich-based independent film and television studio that distributes, finances, and produces high-quality entertainment content for the global market. Beta Film leverages on its broad network of subsidiaries to complement its financial support with an extensive market and production knowhow, based on its experience of 60 years in the audiovisual market. Beta Film will benefit from the Invest EU Cultural and Creative Portfolio Guarantee Product. The European Union's support is expected to leverage a portfolio of around €45 million in financing.

Thanks to the InvestEU guarantee provided by the EIF, Beta Film can complement the offerings of traditional lenders and provide tailor-made financing solutions to the European audiovisual sector, which would otherwise be unable to bridge the financing gap at the production stage of an audiovisual project. Beta Film will enable independent European producers to obtain additional financing for their audiovisual projects and promote international distribution to maximise revenue potential.

Lastly, the EIF has approved a guarantee line under the Invest EU Cultural and Creative Portfolio Guarantee Product for the Finish Impact Film Fund (FIFF) managed by Aurora Studios, a Finnish audiovisual production and distribution company set up in 2014. Europe's support for this Finnish alternative investment fund that invests in artistically and commercially ambitious films and TV-series is expected to issue around €11 million in financing.

The European audiovisual sector is characterised by highly innovative and creative independent production and distribution companies with high growth potential. These businesses often lack the financial strength to compete at international level and their potential tends to be off the radar of European investors. All agreements presented aim to address a market failure in the cultural and creative sectors and boost these businesses through financing and stimulating more investment.

“We are delighted to support Europe's cultural and creative sectors through this series of agreements supported by the InvestEU programme,” said EIF Chief Investment Officer Alessandro Tappi. “These three renowned French, German and Finnish partners benefiting from guarantees granted by the EIF play an essential role in supporting European audiovisual productions. Culture is at the heart of the European project and these agreements can make an important contribution in maintaining and creating many jobs in a sector that has both a close link to our European identity and strong export aspirations”.

Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said “through the Invest EU Cultural and Creative Portfolio Guarantee Product, the EU is strongly committed to helping cultural and creative businesses finance their innovative projects and stimulating initiatives contributing to European diversity and economic development. The agreements signed today will allow many European film producers find the means to finance projects which keep the European audiovisual creation at the forefront of the world stage.”

Background information

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 businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and micro-finance instruments that specifically target this market segment. In this role, it contributes to the achievement of key EU policy goals such as competitiveness and growth, innovation and digitalisation, social impact, skills and human capital, climate action and environmental sustainability.

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investments for the European Union’s policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available to support investment in the European Union, 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 that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

Press contacts:

EIF:
Christophe Alix, c.alix@eib.org, tel. +33 6 11 81 30 99
Website: www.eif.org — Press Office: +352 4379 21000 — press@eib.org
Twitter @eif_eu