Two hundred and fifty million euros to encourage the development of small and medium-sized Italian enterprises. This is what is foreseen in the agreement signed between the Ministry of the Economy, the European Investment Bank, Sace and Borsa Italiana, presented today in Milan. It's about three new tools to strengthen the capitalization of smaller companies, aimed at promoting the financing of medium-long term projects, growth in size, internationalization and competitive capacity, in a context in which our SMEs are heavily indebted and with limited access to the capital market. The tools are already operational today.
The agreement of co-investment between the European Investment Fund (controlled by the EIB) and the Italian Investment Fund provides for an allocation of 100 million each (renewable in tranches), which aims to promote the capitalization and development of small and medium-sized enterprises through support for venture capital funds dedicated to growth.
Sace puts an initial endowment of 50 million on the plate, aiming at the acquisition and management of significant shareholdings in listed SMEs or those that are to be listed on the Italian market, with a possibly export-oriented business model. The investments, made through a primary manager specialized in the small cap market, will have a time horizon of 3-5 years.
Under the agreement, Borsa Italiana will promote Elite, a project born from the collaboration with the Italian Investment Fund and aimed at making SMEs aware of the benefits that can be drawn from participation in the programme, presented today. Borsa Italiana acts as a tutor, with the aim of accompanying SMEs on a path of organizational and managerial development. Finally, an ad hoc website will be created, a sort of online showcase of the project.
