The European Investment Fund (“EIF”) and Alantra joined forces under the European Guarantee Fund (“EGF”) to support European small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”) hit by the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The EIF will back a portfolio of loans for up to €110 million and will assume up to 70% of the risk on the loans granted to SMEs by two Alantra funds: Alteralia Real Estate Debt FIL (real estate financing) and Alteralia S.C.A SICAR (direct lending).

The EIF uncapped guarantee under the EGF, approved by the European Council as part of the EU’s recovery package, will allow the two Alantra funds to increase their lending capacity to European SMEs, mainly targeting Spanish companies, to support their sustainability and growth.

A significant portion of the €110m financing will be granted under the recently launched Alantra Real Estate Debt fund, which provides financing mainly for repositioning, development or acquisitions to real estate companies for all type of asset classes (excluding residential development) in Iberia and Continental Europe.

A minor portion of the guarantee will be dedicated to Alantra's direct lending business, one of the most active firms in the Iberian mid-market, providing long-term, flexible financing mainly for capex investments, acquisitions and debt refinancings. It has completed more than 25 investments and deployed over €350 million in this period.

“The guarantee agreement under the EGF will enable Alantra to provide debt financing to SMEs on favourable terms, ensuring that companies have the needed financing to mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. SMEs are the backbone of Europe’s economy and ensuring their development is essential to boost economic growth and employment acrossEurope”, said Alain Godard, EIF Chief Executive.

“The European Guarantee Fund (EGF) is supporting small and medium-sized companies in Europe to recover from the terrible impact of COVID-19. I am delighted to see that EGF is playing a very important role in supporting the financial needs of Spanish and Portuguese companies hit by the pandemic,” said Ricardo Mourinho Felix, EIB Vice-President, responsible for the EIB Group operations in Spain and Portugal.

"The EGF guarantee agreement will enhance the Alantra’s debt platform by supporting the alternative and flexible financing provided to SMEs, which is critical in the current economic context while aligning with our investors' interests via reduction of the portfolio's credit risk," said Jacobo Llanza, CEO of Alantra Asset Management.

Background information

About the European Investment Fund (EIF) & the European Guarantee Fund (EGF)

The European Investment Fund is part of the European Investment Bank Group. Its central mission is to support Europe's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops both venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, the EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth and employment.

The European Guarantee Fund (EGF) was set up by the EIB Group with contributions from EU Member States to shield companies suffering from the COVID-19 crisis. Using nearly €25 billion in guarantees, the EGF allows the EIB and the EIF to quickly make loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, equity and other financial instruments available to mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. The EGF is part of the European Union's recovery package aiming to provide a total of €540 billion boost those parts of the EU economy that have been hit the worst.

About Alantra

Alantra is a global alternative asset management, investment banking, and credit portfolio advisory firm focusing on providing high value-added services to companies, families, and investors operating in the mid-market segment. The group has over 540 professionals across Europe, the US, Latin America and Asia. In Alternative Asset Management, Alantra offers its clients unique access to a wide range of investment strategies (direct investments, fund of funds, co-investments, and secondaries) in seven highly specialized asset management classes (private equity, active funds, private debt, infrastructure, real estate, transition energy, and technology). As of 31 March, 2021, assets under management in direct investments stood at c. €3bn, while funds raised since inception in funds of funds, co-investments and secondary funds stood at €11.7bn.

Alantra Private Debt is focused on providing long-term flexible financing solutions to middle-market companies in Spain and Continental Europe. It typically targets companies with revenues of between 25 and 200 million euros and a minimum EBITDA of 3 million euros. Alantra Private Debt's diversified investor base includes public institutions (EIF, COFIDES and ICO), private institutional investors (mainly pension funds and insurance companies), as well as family offices.

Press Contacts

EIF:
Lorenzo Squintani, tel.: +352 691 285 772, l.squintani@eib.org
Website: www.eif.org – Press office: +352 4379 21000 – press@eib.org
Follow us on Twitter @eif_eu

Alantra:
Yago Sánchez-Reig, tel.: +34 917 458 484, yago.sanchez@alantra.com
Website: www.alantra.com