The Trentino Alto Adige Strategic Fund, managed by Finint SGR, has subscribed to the Trentino Minibonds, a system operation involving nine Trentino SMEs members of Confindustria Trento. The bonds are worth a total of 10,2 million euros, a sum that includes various bonds of amounts between 0,5 and 1,6 million depending on the financial needs of the issuers.
Since its inception in 2015, the Fund has invested 118,75 million in companies in the Autonomous Province of Trento, subscribing to bond issues and disbursing loans directly and/or indirectly.
The issuers of minibonds were almost exclusively medium-sized companies with turnover exceeding 50 million, which made recourse to the capital market for the first time.
The last transaction also allows small companies to access the capital market at competitive costs, thanks to the reduction of fixed issue costs with economies of scale, but also to the principle of mutuality between participants, which guarantees competitive rates for unsecured transactions without the use of additional coverage and guarantees.
The operation was developed in partnership with Confindustria Trento, which reported a list of companies in line with the fund's objectives. Among the potential participating companies, Finint SGR has selected the following nine companies: Algorab (remote control systems and services), Cardioline (cardiological diagnostic devices), CMV (plant engineering for iron and steel processes), ELPPA (porphyry extraction and processing), Erika Eis ( ice cream and donuts), Eurotexfilati (trade and production of yarns), Gaierhof (wine), leMur (elastic yarns) and Sartori Legno (pallets and wooden packaging).
“We are approaching full use of the funds available for the Trento sub-fund – says Mauro Sbroggiò, managing director of Finint SGR – thanks to an innovative basket bond transaction which is at the same time consistent with the Fund's vocation. It is the first time in Italy that an operation of this type has been carried out: we have succeeded in simplifying the logic of the previous system issues, making the financial instrument suitable for the needs of even smaller companies, which have in this way the possibility of disintermediating the banking channel at competitive costs and without real guarantees”.
