The EIF and GE Capital sign agreement to support micro and small businesses in France

The EIF has signed an agreement with GE Capital France’s Equipment Finance, which specialises in providing alternative forms of financing solutions to businesses, in order to help increase lending to micro and small businesses in France.

Under the European Union’s Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, which promotes lending to SMEs, the EIF will provide a guarantee on up to €140m of funds lent by GE Capital to micro and small businesses.

The agreement, initially signed for a three year period, is expected to help businesses grow and create new jobs.

The EIF guaranteed funds will allow GE Capital to increase lending to businesses which often face difficulties accessing finance. The funds will be available across most of GE Capital’s Equipment Finance products, including leasing financial leasing and hire-purchase.

Notes to editors

About the EIF

EIF's central mission is to support Europe's small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by helping them to access finance.  EIF primarily design and develops venture capital and guarantees 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. The EIF total net commitments to venture capital and private equity funds amounted to over EUR 5.4bn at end 2010. With investments in over 300 funds, the EIF is the leading player in European venture capital due to the scale and the scope of its investments, especially in the high-tech and early-stage segments. The EIF commitment in guarantees totalled over EUR 14.7bn in close to 160 operations at end 2010, positioning it as a major European SME loan guarantees actor and a leading micro-finance guarantor. 

About GE Capital EMEA

GE Capital EMEA is one of the region’s largest commercial and consumer lenders with over $80 billion in assets, 19,000 employees, more than five million customers and operations in 19 countries.  For businesses, particularly small and mid-market firms, GE Capital EMEA provides a range of specialised financial products and services including receivables financing, distribution finance, acquisition finance and commercial loans and leases to support customer needs. And, thanks to GE’s 130+ years’ experience in energy, aviation, healthcare and media industries, we know how to make business assets work harder.  In addition, GE Capital EMEA serves millions of consumers through its award-winning retail banks in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Nordics, Poland and Switzerland.

GE Capital EMEA also includes Mubadala GE Capital PJSC, the commercial finance joint venture between GE and Mubadala, based in Abu Dhabi, which is focused on commercial investments around the world with a particular emphasis on the Middle East.

Press contacts:

GE Capital: Mr. Michael Goodbody, Head of External Relations, EMEA, e-mail: michael.goodbody@ge.com, Tel. (+44) 207 302 6269; or Ms. Marion Artieres, Head of Communications, France, e-mail:marion.artieres@ge.com, Tel. (+33) 1 46 14 74 49.