Clifford Chance has advised UniCredit on an agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to mobilise €2.5 billion of investments in large, medium and small Italian businesses, to help them meet the challenge of recovering from the COVID-19 crisis. The deal is the first in Italy to be backed by the Pan-European Guarantee Fund (EGF), one of the EU’s instruments for responding to the pandemic. The EGF is a guarantee structure supported by 22 EU member states, organized and managed by the EIB Group in partnership with Europe’s leading financial intermediaries.
Under the agreement, UniCredit will create a €1bn portfolio of new loans over the coming months to both large companies and medium-sized firms. The EIB will use the EGF to guarantee up to €750m (75%) of UniCredit’s new loan portfolio. The total amount of new loans will be €1.75 billion, which UniCredit will distribute through its branch network across Italy. However, thanks to co-financing and a prudent leverage effect, around €2.5 billion in investments are expected to be mobilized by the end of the year. More than 10,000 SMEs and around 100 large and medium-sized companies are likely to benefit from the scheme.
The Clifford Chance team comprised partners Timothy Cleary (GFM, London) and Giuseppe de Palma (GFM, Milan), counsel David Neu (GFM, Munich) and trainee Marco Convertini (GFM, Milan).
