UniCredit and SACE today signed a new agreement which provides for the allocation of 300 million euros to support investments by Italian companies abroad.
The agreement, finalized by Raoul Ascari, Chief Operating Officer of SACE, Alessandro Cataldo and Frederik Geertman, heads of the Corporate and Family&SME networks of UniCredit in Italy, will consist in the preparation of medium and long-term credit lines in favor of small and medium-sized Italian companies that invest in development projects for their activities abroad.
The loans will be disbursed by UniCredit in the form of an unsecured loan for amounts between 100 thousand and 5 million euros and duration between 3 and 5 years, and they will be covered by the SACE guarantee up to 70%. The agreement provide that SMEs and companies with an annual turnover of less than 250 million euros can access funding that they have made at least 10% of turnover abroad while maintaining headquarters, management, research and the majority of production in Italy.
The advantages for businesses are numerous and go beyond financing. In fact, the internationalization projects will be assessed by UniCredit experts with regard to development and profitability prospects; moreover, the companies will be supported by personalized and widespread assistance throughout the territory
"Insufficiency of credit is among the most pressing issues to be resolved to allow companies to return to a growth path and requires concerted response actions between several subjects - he declared Raoul Ascari -. Today's agreement strengthens SACE's collaboration with the Italian banking system, a positive experience that allows us to support development projects for an increasingly large pool of SMEs. It is precisely this segment, most exposed to economic difficulties, that we are paying particular attention to today, with a series of initiatives designed to make SACE's insurance-financial offer more flexible and accessible, so that it can become an ally in dealing with a crisis to last much longer".
“Thanks to this agreement with SACE – he declared Gabriel Piccini, country chairman Italy – we can further increase our financial support to the necessary process of strengthening the presence of Italian companies abroad. With the UniCredit project for Italy, we are committed to accompanying 15 companies on international markets by providing financial resources, services and consultancy. We are the leading Italian bank abroad, with a direct presence in 50 countries. We can therefore exploit and make the experience, knowledge and relational advantages deriving from our international network available to companies. With this agreement we will also be able to support a good number of small and medium-sized enterprises to have a structured and sustainable approach towards markets that have become indispensable for the growth of the production system".
The complete press release is attached
Attachments: Unicredit-SACE press release.pdf
