EIF and Fondo Italiano di Investimento invest a total of €60m into Emisys Development at first closing

Italian version

EIF and Fondo Italiano di Investimento have subscribed a commitment of EUR 30 million each into Emisys Development. The commitment has been subscribed at first closing.

Emisys Development is a new investment vehicle which aims at supporting growth projects of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through hybrid instruments of debt and equity, providing them with the capital necessary to expand their business and strengthen their competitive position on the market. This strategy, particularly innovative for the Italian market, has been already successfully implemented in other markets such as the UK.

Emisys Development has a target size of EUR150 million and has raised EUR131 million at first closing, thanks to the participation of Fondo Italiano di investimento, EIF, Fineurop Group, IMI Investimenti and other family office and private investors.

Emisys Development will be managed by a team which is the result of the merger of two formerly separate investment teams with a proven experience in private equity and mezzanine financing: the team of Mezzanove Capital (led by Philippe Minard and Andrea Cappuccio) and the team of AF Mezzanine (led by Edoardo Professione). The management company of the Fund is Emisys Capital SGR, owned by the management team, IMI Investimenti and Fineurop.

As of today Fondo Italiano di investimento has invested in 16 funds/investments vehicles, for a total commitment of €320 million. The investment into Emsys gives EIF the opportunity to support one of the best mezzanine team in southern Europe and reaffirms EIF’s commitment to participate in the region’s growth and development.

The combined contributions of Fondo Italiano di investimento and EIF, which have made several investments jointly since 2011, will provide substantial additional capital that will help to close the current funding gap experienced by Italian SMEs in a market which remains challenging.

About Fondo Italiano di Investimento

Fondo Italiano d’Investimento SGR is the management company of the first private equity fund, Fondo Italiano di Investimento, promoted by the Italian Ministry of Finance with the co-operation of Associazione Bancaria Italiana (Italian Banking Association), Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Confindustria (Industrial Association), Intesa Sanpaolo, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Unicredit and Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari.

Following its final closing, Fondo Italiano di Investimento (FII) reached total commitment of 1.2 billion Euro. FII invests both in Italian private companies and third party managed funds. With regards to the directs investments, FII targets high-growth Italian companies with turnover between 10-250 million Euro with expansion ambitions mainly through internationalization. The Fund invests mainly in minority positions, although attention is also given to management buy-in/buy-out and replacement transactions in presence of generational changes or corporate governance issues that could affect the development of the company. The fund of funds activity aims at investing in private equity vehicles or closed-end funds characterized by an investment strategy consistent with the policy of the Fund and managed by teams with proven experience and professionalism.

EIF's central mission is to support Europe's micro, small and medium-sized businesses by helping them to access finance.  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 6.9bn at end 2012. 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 4.7bn in close to 255 operations at end 2012, positioning it as a major European SME guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor.

• EIF:  Joëlle Harvey, email:  j.harvey@eif.org
• Fondo Italiano di Investimento: roberto.delgiudice@fondoitaliano.it, website: www.fondoitaliano.it