EIF invests €20 million from the Spanish Regional Resilience Fund in new Talde private debt fund to finance SMEs focused on sustainability

• Talde Deuda Alternativa II is a fund with a target volume of €100 million whose management team consists mostly of women. It provides co-financing alongside bank financing, offering tailored solutions for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in Spain.
• This investment was made through the Alternative Lending for Sustainable Development instrument of the Spanish Regional Resilience Fund managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF).
• The agreement follows a €15 million investment made by the EIF in 2024 thanks to the InvestEU programme, bringing the EIF participation in Talde Deuda Alternativa II to €35 million.

Bilbao: The EIF, part of the European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group), invested €20 million in the private debt fund Talde Deuda Alternativa II to support SMEs focused on sustainability.

Talde Deuda Alternativa II is a private debt fund with a target volume of €100 million managed by Talde Gestión, whose management team consists mostly of women. It is backed by institutional investors like Kutxabank (a strategic investor with a €20 million commitment) and family offices, as well as retail investors. It will provide funds to supplement conventional bank financing as part of tailored financing solutions, helping increase access to finance for SMEs focused on sustainability, energy efficiency and circular economy.

The fund will make at least 20 investments of between €2 million and €7 million each, creating a diversified portfolio of long-term senior loans (mainly collateralised).

The EIF invested in the fund through the Alternative Lending for Sustainable Development instrument, created to invest in alternative finance providers and increase the financing options for SMEs in the fields of innovation, sustainability and competitiveness. The instrument is one of two launched by the EIF under the Regional Resilience Fund.

The Regional Resilience Fund channels financing from Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan under the NextGenerationEU recovery instrument to boost environmental and social investments in the autonomous communities. The Regional Resilience Fund is led by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise and managed in cooperation with the EIF.

^{From left to right: Marco Marrone Chief Investment Officer FEI, Idoia Bengoa Simón, Socia Directora General de Talde,  Inés Carpio, directora general de Financiación Internacional del Tesoro}

Inés Carpio, Director General of International Financing of the Spanish Treasury, said, “This operation is a significant step in promoting new avenues of financing for SMEs, especially those focused on sustainability. It reflects the public sector’s commitment to developing more diverse and flexible financial instruments that can complement conventional financing structures.”

Marco Marrone, Chief Investment Officer at the EIF, said, “We are very pleased to be joining forces with Talde Gestión to support SMEs committed to sustainability with financing that is tailored to their needs and that comes alongside conventional bank financing. With operations like the investment with Talde, the EIF is continuing to accelerate the deployment of its Alternative Lending for Sustainable Development instrument, which encourages SMEs to invest in innovation, sustainability and digitalisation.”

Idoia Bengoa Simón, Managing Director of Talde, said, “With the support of the EIF as a strategic investor and Kutxabank as an anchor investor, this new private debt fund is committed to offering alternative financing solutions to SMEs with high potential for growth and consolidation, promoting environmental and social considerations. The fund’s diversified strategy, focused on collateralised senior debt, is designed to enable profitability and help improve financing and social conditions.

Background information

About the Regional Resilience Fund

The Regional Resilience Fund was created to facilitate access to NextGenerationEU loans from the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for the autonomous communities, with the aim of boosting investments and developing projects in eight priority areas: social and affordable housing; urban renewal; transport and sustainable tourism; the energy transition; water and waste management; the care economy; research, development and innovation; and the competitiveness of industry and SMEs.

The fund is led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, which takes input from the autonomous communities and cities for investment decision-making and looks to the EIB Group as a strategic management partner.

In June 2024, the EIB Group and the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise signed the agreement to launch the Regional Resilience Fund and activate the first phase of available financing totalling up to €3.4 billion, including:

• a direct financing mechanism, to co-finance EIB-supported operations in sectors like renewable energy, clean transport and sustainable infrastructure;
• an intermediated mechanism managed by financial intermediaries selected by the EIB, to support projects in urban development and sustainable tourism;
• two instruments intermediated by the European Investment Fund that will facilitate SME financing for innovation, sustainability and competitiveness.

About Talde Gestión

Talde Gestión is a private equity manager that invests in companies – mainly SMEs – and provides capital and strategic support for their development. Talde originated in 1976 as an initiative by a group of entrepreneurs and local financial institutions in the Basque Country. It was consolidated as Talde Gestión after Spain’s risk capital act was enacted. Kutxabank recently acquired a majority holding in Talde Gestión, and enabled the management team to retain 7% of the firm’s capital. Talde currently has more than €370 million under management in various investment vehicles.

Press contacts

EIF

Maite Cordero: m.corderomunoz@eib.org | Tel.: +34 606 66 82 62

Website: www.eif.org | Press Office: +352 4379 21000 | press@eib.org

X: @eif_eu 

Talde Gestión

Arturo Zubiaga: azubiaga@consejerosdelnorte.com; tel: + 34 944 15 86 42

Sitio web: www.consejerosdelnorte.com