European Guarantee Fund: EIF and Riva Y Garcia Gestión back digital SMEs in Spain with €35 million

• EIF and Riva Y Garcia Gestión to support SMEs active in the digital sector in Spain.
• The agreement is backed by the European Guarantee Fund (EGF) and aims to provide the liquidity needed to mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Riva Y Garcia Gestión will support the liquidity needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) active in the Spanish digital sector to mitigate the economic constraints posed by the pandemic.

The EIF, under the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), will provide an uncapped guarantee of up to €24.5 million to Riva Y Garcia Gestión to cover a portfolio of loans of up to €35 million. The EIF will take up to 70% of the risk on these new loans granted to SMEs by the Spanish fund.

Thanks to the EIF and the European Guarantee Fund, Riva Y Garcia Gestión will provide debt financing to SMEs on favourable terms to boost their development stage and to consolidate the venture debt opportunity existing today in the Spanish digital SME market.

“During the current health crisis, digital technologies have been used to track the virus, promote continuity in education, and ensure we can work from home. We are delighted to sign this operation with Riva Y Garcia Gestión under the EGF, aiming to support the growth of digital SMEs in Spain,” said EIF Chief Executive Alain Godard.

“The EIB annual Investment Survey shows that 74% of Spanish firms have implemented, either fully or partially, the digital technologies needed in the past year. This share is considerably higher than the EU average (63%). Spanish small and medium-sized companies are still investing in digital transformation to overcome the economic challenges posed by COVID-19. The EIF agreement with Riva Y Garcia Gestión under the EGF goes exactly in this direction: digitalisation and innovation are the most efficient tools to swiftly recover from the pandemic,” said EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Felix, who is responsible for EIB Group operations in Spain and Portugal.

“We are very pleased to be working with the EIF. This agreement under the EGF will enhance our investment activity in Spain and will allow us to provide flexible financing to the digital SME sector, which we believe is critical under the current economic context,” said Borja García-Nieto, president of Riva Y García Gestion.

Background information

About the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the European Guarantee Fund (EGF)

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 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 European Guarantee Fund (EGF) was set up by the EIB Group with contributions from EU Member States to shield companies suffering from the COVID-19 crisis. Using nearly €25 billion in guarantees, the EGF allows the EIB and the EIF to quickly make loans, guarantees, asset-backed securities, equity and other financial instruments available to mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. The EGF is part of the European Union's recovery package aiming to provide a total of €540 billion boost those parts of the EU economy that have been hit the worst.

About Riva Y Garcia Gestión

Riva Y García Gestión is a private equity and venture capital firm that has been operating in Spain and abroad since the year 2000. It is led by Borja and Ignacio García-Nieto and specialises in the small and medium-sized business sector.

Press contacts:

EIF:
Lorenzo Squintani, tel.: +352 691 285 772, l.squintani@eib.org
Website: www.eib.org/press – Press Office: +352 4379 21000 – press@eib.org
Follow us on Twitter @eif_eu 

Riva Y Garcia Gestión:
Borja García-Nieto, tel.: +34 670 221 221, bgarcia-nieto@rivaygarcia.es
Website: http://www.rivaygarcia.es/en/