Closed new securitization transaction originated by Alba Leasing Almost €145 million in mezzanine securities subscribed by CDP and KfW and guaranteed by EIF
Rome, 8 November 2017
Cassa depositi e prestiti (CDP), KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau), and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have closed a new round of credit securitization for small and medium-sized enterprises, originating from Alba Leasing, a financial intermediary specialized in leasing to businesses.
CDP and KfW together invested around €145 million of mezzanine securities, which benefit from an EIF guarantee at first demand. Also the European Investment Bank (EIB) takes part in the transaction as senior tranche investor and with EFSI resources in a dedicate mezzanine tranche.
Alba Leasing will thus gain long-term liquidity to be redeployed in the coming years as fresh credit for Italian SMEs.
The operation is part of the EIF-NPIs Securitization Initiative (ENSI), the cooperation platform between the EIF and the National Promotion Institutions, including CDP and KfW, which aims to stimulate access to finance for SMEs through the capital markets in the spirit of the “Juncker Plan”. EIB has recently become a member of ENSI as well.
The operation concluded today represents CDP’s fifth investment in the ENSI platform, and the fourth alongside KfW.
The participation of CDP, KfW, and EIF in prior operations has allowed Alba to support 1,300 Italian SMEs. As a result of this latest measure, that number will climb to 2,500.
Cooperation between CDP, KfW and EIF – which began in 2015 with a first transaction in favor of Alba Leasing - continues at a sustained pace, contributing to restoring investor confidence in securitization of performing credits as a solid instrument able to provide companies with the most favorable financing conditions.