EIF welcomes the development bank of North-Rhine Westphalia, NRW.BANK, as newest shareholder

The European Investment Fund has brought its number of shareholders to 31 with NRW.BANK becoming its fifth German shareholder. NRW has purchased three shares in EIF through a sale of shares by the European Investment Bank.

NRW.BANK was established in 2002 as a legally independent development bank with the mission of supporting economic and structural development in the Nordrhein-Westphalia region, the largest federal state and one of the world’s top 17 economies. It uses a full range of financial development products - from traditional loans to customised advice – while business start-up and mid-market development is one of its key areas of competence.

EIF is a member of the EIB Group (EIB holds 66% of EIF’s equity) and works in close cooperation with the European Commission (which holds 25% of EIF equity) and, currently, 31 banks and financial institutions which hold the remaining 9%. EIF's authorised capital amounts to EUR 3 billion. 

Dr. Ulrich Schröder, NRW.BANK`s Chief Executive, commented: "The promotion of business start-ups and SMEs is one of NRW’s core business segments, and we are delighted to link up formally with EIF, the EU institution dedicated to supporting SMEs, by becoming a shareholder. Together, we will explore areas for operational synergy with a view to closing the funding gap faced by young, innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in the North-Rhine Westphalia region." Mr Francis Carpenter, EIF's Chief Executive, added that: "EIF is pleased to welcome the development bank of North-Rhine Westphalia to its membership, building on the strong and long-standing relationship that exists between NRW and EIB Group. By combining EIF’s Europe-wide know-how in innovative financial engineering with NRW’s local presence, we hope to be able to contribute positively to the development of, North-Rhine Westphalia, the world’s 17 ^th largest economy.”

About NRW.BANK:

In August 2002, Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale was split up into West LB AG, which continues the activities of a commercial bank, and NRW.BANK, which is tasked with the public mission of economic and structural development. It benefits from institutional liability and guarantor liability and, hence, from a solvency weighting of "zero" meaning it can pass on the resulting funding advantages to the recipients of development funds in the NRW region. NRW’s core business segments are 1) business start-up and mid-market development, 2) social housing promotion, 3) infrastructure funding and municipal finance and 4) individual promotion.

About EIF:

EIF, the risk capital arm of the EIB Group, is a triple-rated organisation (AAA/Aaa/AAA ratings from Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch) that focuses on venture capital and SME guarantees. With investments in 266 funds, and commitments in excess of EUR 4.2bn in venture capital and over EUR 11bn in guarantees, EIF is a major player in supporting access to finance for SMEs. EIF utilizes venture capital, portfolio guarantee and securitisation instruments – or a blend of all three – to achieve its objective of supporting small and medium sized businesses in European Member States and Candidate countries by enhancing their ability to access finance while ensuring an appropriate return for EIF shareholders.

About EIF activity in Germany:

KfW, Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg - Förderbank, LfA Förderbank Bayern and SAB are EIF’s other four German shareholders, holding a total of 88 shares between them. EIF has guarantee exposure of some EUR 1.1bn to the German SME market with a venture capital exposure of some EUR 313.3m.