InvestEU: EIF supports Bürgschaftsbank Baden-Württemberg and Bürgschaftsbank Nordrhein-Westfalen in expanding their guarantee programmes for small and medium companies

• Bürgschaftsbank Baden-Württemberg and Bürgschaftsbank Nordrhein-Westfalen have signed up for a counter-guarantee from the EIF.
• The €76 million counter-guarantee, made possible by the InvestEU programme, enables the banks to support SME financing of up to €200 million.

Bürgschaftsbank Baden-Württemberg (BBBW), together with Bürgschaftsbank Nordrhein-Westfalen (BBNRW), will increase their guarantee support for regional financial institutions that want to extend financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The European Investment Fund (EIF) will provide a counter-guarantee of up to 70% on a €109 million portfolio of guarantees for SMEs and small mid-caps active in the German states of Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. BBBW is spearheading the transaction. Together, the two banks will be able to support SME financing of up to €200 million.

The EIF’s counter-guarantees are made possible by the European InvestEU programme, making use of four guarantee products: the Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee, the Innovation and Digitalisation Guarantee, the SME Competitiveness Guarantee, and the Sustainability Guarantee.

• The EIF Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee aims to support companies that invest, among others, in restoration, libraries, the press, architecture, performing arts and audiovisual.
• The EIF Innovation and Digitalisation Guarantee will enable the regional financial institutions to further support the growth of small and medium companies working in research and development, and the adoption of new digital technologies.
• The EIF Sustainability Guarantee aims to support the green and sustainable transformation of the economy, and the uptake of environmentally friendly, green and inclusive investments by small companies.
• The EIF SME Competitiveness Guarantee is designed to support the economic recovery of German small and medium companies in Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia by offering solvency support.

Marjut Falkstedt, chief executive of the European Investment Fund, says: “InvestEU was set up as an instrument to boost the investments of small and innovative companies. It enables banks to lend not only to such companies, but also to growing or young businesses, helping them to find their way in a difficult business environment, with high interest rates and inflation. We are glad that Bürgschaftsbank Baden-Württemberg and Bürgschaftsbank Nordrhein-Westfalen are using this instrument to support smaller businesses, innovative companies and businesses in the creative and cultural sector in their regions.” 

Guy Selbherr, member of the board of Bürgschaftsbank Baden-Württemberg, adds: “We are looking forward to continuing our cooperation with the EIF under Invest EU. In addition to procedural advantages, the EIF guarantees offer additional flexibility to support companies in twin transition projects.”

Manfred Thivessen, managing director of Bürgschaftsbank Nordrhein-Westfalen, is delighted that the proven cooperation with the EIF will be continued. “We in North Rhine-Westphalia see great potential for small and medium-sized enterprises in the areas of digitalisation, innovation and sustainability. The new InvestEU programme is exactly the right solution to support the diverse transformation processes.”

Background information:

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group. Its central mission is to support Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by helping them to access finance. The EIF designs and develops venture and growth capital, guarantees and microfinance instruments that 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 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.

Bürgschaftsbank Baden-Württemberg (BBBW) is a private guarantee bank. Its shareholders are chambers, associations and leading institutions of the banking industry. Its loan guarantees enable small and medium-sized enterprises in the state of Baden-Württemberg to obtain financing when collateral is lacking. A total of 15 000 guarantees exist for companies in Baden-Württemberg with a loan and investment volume of around €3.2 billion. BBBW is the largest institution of this kind in Germany, with more than one-third of the loans and guarantee participations nationwide.

Bürgschaftsbank Nordrhein-Westfalen (BBNRW) supports small and medium-sized companies, startups for new businesses or business takeovers and freelancers by issuing guarantees. These secure financing, leasing transactions and equity investments and always step in when collateral is lacking.  It has provided guarantees and sureties totalling 3.390 to SMEs in North Rhine-Westphalia. These guarantees have enabled projects with a total investment volume of around €846 million. Without this support, these projects could not have been implemented at all or not to the same extent.

Press contacts:

Donata Riedel, d.riedel@eib.org, tel.: +49 30 590047 900, mobile: +49 151 1465 9021
Website: www.eif.org - Press Office: www.eib.org/press, +352 4379 21000, press@eib.org

Dunja Geisler, dunja.geisler@buergschaftsbank.de, tel.: +49 711 1645-03, www.buergschaftsbank.de