CDP, KfW and EIF: cooperation on securitisation progresses with a new transaction of leases to SMEs originated by Iccrea Banca Impresa

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), KfW and the European Investment Fund have finalised an investment in a new transaction securitising leases to SMEs originated by Iccrea Banca Impresa (the Cooperative Credit corporate bank).

CDP and KfW have invested EUR 65m by purchasing mezzanine notes which benefit from a first demand guarantee issued by the EIF.

The transaction has been carried out in the context of ENSI (EIF-NPIs Securitisation Initiative), a cooperation platform between EIF and the National Promotional Institutions (NPIs), amongst which CDP and KfW, whose purpose is to facilitate SMEs’ access to credit in the spirit of the Juncker plan.

Collaboration between CDP, KfW and EIF in the ENSI platform began with the Alba 7 transaction and continued with the Alba 8 transaction (two securitisations of performing financial leases originated by Alba Leasing Spa).

The three institutions are very active in this market, enhancing access to finance for SMEs and encouraging the use of securitisation as an instrument for funding credit to SMEs. Furthermore, the ENSI workgroup is setting up a plan to make the initiative become one of the Juncker plan products in the following months.

EIF, CDP and KfW are committed to facilitating access to finance for SMEs, and therefore plan to leverage on the ENSI platform with a view to closing further investments in the next months.

Thanks to the involvement of the NPIs and the EIF in the mezzanine tranche and the European Investment Bank’s investment in the senior, the market transaction allowed Iccrea Banca Impresa to raise long term funding, which will be reinvested by granting new leases to Italian SMEs in the next two years.