EIF and Oquendo to support Spanish SMEs with €57 million under the EGF

• EIF guarantee of up to €40 million to Oquendo to support the economic recovery of SMEs and Small Mid-Caps in Spain.
• The agreement is backed by the Pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF), part of the €540 billion EU rescue package approved in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The European Investment Fund (EIF), part of the European Investment Bank Group, joins forces with Oquendo Capital SGEIC to support Spanish SMEs and Small Mid-Caps active in sectors particularly exposed to COVID-19. Oquendo Capital is an Alternative Investment Fund Manager acting on behalf of Fondo Valenciano de Impulso Empresarial - Impulsa I (Impulsa).

The EIF will provide a €40 million uncapped guarantee to Impulsa, enabling the Spanish fund to originate a portfolio of €57 million of financing for Spanish SMEs to mitigate the economic consequences of the pandemic. The EIF will take up to 70% of the risk on the loans granted by Impulsa.

Thanks to the EIF and the European Guarantee Fund, Impulsa through Oquendo Capital, will provide a wide range of debt financing solutions to Spanish companies with sustainable business plans, ensuring they have sufficient financing available to promote their investment needs in the medium to long term.

The agreement is backed by the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), part of the €540 billion EU rescue package approved in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are delighted to join forces with Oquendo to mobilise financing solutions tailored to the requirements of Spanish lower Midcaps", said Alain Godard, Chief Executive of the EIF. "The European Guarantee Fund is delivering on its main goal: providing the liquidity needed by small and medium-sized companies to cope with the economic shock caused by the pandemic."

"Ensuring that family-owned businesses and small and medium-sized companies have sufficient short-term liquidity available to weather the crisis is now more essential than ever. Through the European Guarantee Fund, the EIB Group is able to deploy a number of equity, debt funds and guarantee products to back the liquidity and investment needs of European companies of all sizes", said EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix.

Alfonso Erhardt, Founding Partner at Oquendo pointed out that "thanks to this agreement, Spanish SMEs, especially the ones located in Comunidad Valenciana, which is Impulsa's main focus of activity, will benefit from a greater and more flexible financial support. The support of EIF will also allow the alignment of the investment strategy with investors' interest via reduction of the portfolio's credit risk while maintaining the expected returns."

About the European Investment Fund (EIF)

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 created by the EIB Group with contributions from all 27 EU Member States to protect companies that are struggling in the crisis caused by COVID-19. With almost 25 billion euros in guarantees, the EGF allows the EIB and EIF to swiftly offer companies, mostly SMEs and Mid-Caps, access to loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, capital and other financial instruments. The EGF forms part of the package of recovery measures put in place by the European Union, with the objective of providing a total of 540 billion euros to support the hardest hit sectors of the EU economy.

About Oquendo

Oquendo Capital SGEIC is an independent asset manager providing flexible debt and capital solutions to small and middle -market companies in Iberia. Since 2008, when it pioneered private debt investing in Spain, the firm has supported more than 50 companies with over €650 million of financing through differentiated senior and junior debt instruments. As of September 2021, Oquendo managed in excess of €850 million in commitments from a selected group of institutional and private investors.

Press Contacts

EIF:

Lorenzo Squintani, tel.: +352 691 285 772, [email protected]

Website: www.eif.org - Press office: +352 4379 21000 - [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @eif_eu

Oquendo:

Alfonso Erhardt. Tel: +34 91 290 01 53; [email protected]

Daniel Herrero. Tel: +34 91 290 01 53; [email protected]

Website: www.oquendocapital.com

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