Cassa Depositi e Prestiti backs the €110 million initiative in support of local businesses together with Finlombarda
Easing access to new liquidity to support the growth plans and green investments of small businesses based in Lombardy: this is the main objective of the Basket Bond Lombardia programme, launched at Palazzo Mezzanotte, the headquarters of Borsa Italiana in Milan.
The €110 million initiative aims to support the development strategies of companies based in Lombardy, generating positive knock-on effects for supply chains and industry sectors, while promoting green investments in the circular economy and environmental and energy sustainability.
Specifically, the initiative provides for the structuring of minibonds – ranging in value from €1.5 million to €10 million – issued by individual SMEs1 into portfolios (basket bonds), which are then subscribed by a special purpose vehicle (SPV). To fund the purchase of these minibonds, the SPV will in turn issue new securities, which will be subscribed by institutional investors such as Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Finlombarda. Within the programme, Banca Finint will act as arranger.
The instrument has a term of up to seven years and offers conditions of favourable access thanks to a guarantee from the Lombardy regional government, which also provides a non-repayable grant to cover the minibonds’ structuring and issuance costs. The financial allocation for these incentives amounts to €32 million, drawn from the European funds of the RP ERDF Lombardy 2021-2027.
The event was opened by Regional Councillor for Economic Development Guido Guidesi, the Chairman of Finlombarda Andrea Mascetti and the Chief Executive Officer of Borsa Italiana (Euronext Group) Fabrizio Testa. The presentation to SMEs continued with contributions from Vincenzo Paolo Carbonara, Head of Finance for Growth at Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, who also discussed CDP’s role in the alternative finance market; Gessyca Golia, Head of “Start-ups, innovation and access to credit for businesses” at the Lombardy Region’s Directorate-General for Economic Development; Andrea Crespan, Head of Structured Finance – Basket Bonds at Banca Finint; Alessandro Gorla, Head of Credit Ratings at Cerved Rating Agency; Antonello Macrì, CFO of Soleto SpA; and finally Marta Testa, CEO of ELITE – Euronext, who closed the event.
1 The measure is open to small and medium-sized enterprises with annual turnover of at least €5 million.