Anthilia Capital Partners and the European Investment Fund sign a new partnership to support Italian SMEs

The European Investment Fund (EIF) has signed a €70 million commitment in the Anthilia BIT IV fund, a co-investment fund of Anthilia BIT III established in 2019 and focused on Italian SMEs. The EIF’s commitment of €70m consolidates the cooperation with Anthilia Capital Partners to support Italian SMEs.

This agreement between Anthilia BIT IV and the EIF is backed by the European Guarantee Fund, part of the European Union’s €540 billion packages to address the economic impact of COVID-19. In this context, Anthilia’s financing supports, inter alia, SMEs most affected by supply chain restrictions in the pandemic context. In Italy, decreased demand and liquidity displacement due to supply chains restrictions have been particularly registered in the food, fashion, and distribution chains linked to intermediate productions.

With the new subscription by the EIF, Anthilia BIT IV reaches total available commitments of around €171 million with a funding target of €250 million by the end of 2022. The Fund’s strategy is a continuation of the three predecessor funds, focused on providing alternative long-term financing to Italian SMEs. In 2021 alone, Anthilia Sgr has carried out private debt transactions for a total value of approximately €110 million, supporting 12 Italian SMEs in various sectors.

In detail, Anthilia BIT IV is a closed-end private debt co-investment fund reserved for qualified investors; the fund participates in the operations of the Anthilia BIT III fund according to a pre-established co-investment ratio but can also allocate up to 20% of its portfolio to independent operations.

Alain Godard, Chief Executive of the EIF, added: “SMEs and entrepreneurs are key drivers of innovation, growth, and employment. Thanks to this agreement with Anthilia BIT IV, backed by the European Guarantee Fund, we will contribute to supporting the economic recovery of Italian SMEs, the engine of the Italian economy.”

EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti added: “Access to finance at advantageous conditions represents the greatest challenge for the survival and growth of small and medium-sized companies, especially innovative ones. The European Guarantee Fund was set up with exactly this purpose in mind: providing the liquidity needed by businesses to cope with the economic crisis generated by the pandemic.”

“We welcome with great enthusiasm this new and important agreement with the European Investment Fund in our fourth fund dedicated to Italian SMEs ”- said Giovanni Landi, Chairman of Anthilia Holding

”The success that Anthilia BIT IV has garnered over the past 2 years is the result of a work focused on a key segment for our country, where we have invested around 110 million this year alone, focusing on Italian entrepreneurial excellence that constitutes the backbone of the country’s real economy.”