General Meeting approves capital increase of EIF - Increased support for SMEs across Europe

The shareholders of the European Investment Fund (EIF) have approved the 50% capital increase of the institution, increasing EIF's total authorized capital from EUR 3bn to EUR 4.5bn. With this decision, the shareholders – the European Investment Bank, the European Union represented by the European Commission and public and private financial institutions – have given a strong signal to further extend EIF’s activity in support of European small and medium-sized enterprises.

EIF’s capital increase is expected to result in some EUR 560m of additional resources in total, allowing EIF to scale up its support to the structured finance SME market, and strengthening its capacity to continue to cornerstone the venture and growth capital activity.

EIB Vice-President and Chairman of EIF's Board of Directors, Dario Scannapieco said: "It is of utmost importance to support European SMEs at this critical point in time. With increasing EIF’s capital, we have paved the way to extend EIB Group’s support for SMEs over the next years."

EIF's Chief Executive, Pier Luigi Gilibert welcomed the strong support of EIF's shareholders: "The capital increase reflects a huge vote of confidence in EIF at this juncture where, in addition to strengthening our core business, we are expanding into new areas and further increasing our collaboration with partners at national level. Our mission to support SMEs across Europe remains crucial to stimulating growth, employment and innovation in Europe.”

About the EIF

The European Investment Fund's (EIF) central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. EIF's shareholders are the European Investment Bank (62.1%), the European Union via the European Commission (30%) and 25 financial institutions from EU Member States and Turkey (7.9%). EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments which specifically target this market segment. In this role, EIF fosters EU objectives in support of innovation, research and development, entrepreneurship, growth, and employment. EIF’s total net commitments to private equity funds amounted to over EUR 7.9bn at end 2013. With investments in over 435 funds, EIF is a leading player in European venture due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in high-tech and early-stage segments. EIF’s guarantees loan portfolio totalled over EUR 5.6bn in over 300 operations at end 2013, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

Press contact:

Susanne Gutjahr, Head of Communications, gutjahr@eif.org, tel. +352 426 688 487