Ten Italian businesses turn to capital markets in new initiative promoted by CDP and EIB
ELITE, Borsa Italiana’s international platform for small and medium-sized enterprises with high growth potential, together with Banca Finint launched Basket Bond, an important initiative for raising capital through alternative and traditional financing channels. The bond is a simultaneous issue with a ten-year duration involving 10 Italian companies participating in the ELITE program. As a result, the companies have raised debt capital to be put to use for financing growth.
EITE, of which CDP recently acquired 15 percent, aims to help company growth projects offering training, access to an international network of qualified partners, investors, and diversified funding sources. The platform works today in support of over 700 companies (about two-thirds Italian) from 36 sectors, generating over €50 billion in aggregate revenues with about 215,000 jobs across Europe.
Basket Bond is the first financial transaction system that adds value to a selected set of quality companies. Technically, the operation saw the issue of mini bonds by ten ELITE companies with identical characteristics in terms of duration and rates, but with different amounts. The bonds were fully subscribed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) whose securities were acquired by CDP, the European Investment Bank, and a number of other professional investors including Banca IFIS and Zenit SGR.