On Monday, October 7, the European Investment Bank (EIB) submitted a proposal to euro zone finance ministers to jump-start the euro zone's capital markets union plan and direct funds to European companies looking to scale up.
Nadia Calviño, head of the EU's investment department, has expanded the EIB's role beyond its traditional development and green bank functions, expanding financing for defense projects earlier this year and increasing the EU's private financing needs. promoted the EIB as an important tool to address the
“The EIB itself is already an instrument of the CMU,” Calviño told reporters after presenting the “action plan.” […] It will help direct savings towards productive investments,” he said at a meeting of 20 EU ministers in Luxembourg.
“The EIB Group plans to extend its support to the EU venture capital and private equity markets to fill funding gaps throughout the innovation and enterprise cycle.” [..] “To support the development of the Capital Markets Union,” she said.
“We are talking about ensuring that European companies and technologies born in Europe stay in Europe and invest in European champions and European unicorns,” Calviño added.
In a separate statement, the EIB said the proposal had been developed “following several months of intensive engagement with member states and financial market partners” and already “will have broad support from national governments.” said. [bank’s] Last week, it was announced by the Board of Directors and the actual investment unit (European Investment Fund, EIF).
It consists of two main projects. One is the expansion of the EIB's European Tech Champions initiative, set up last year to lend high-growth capital to high-tech companies, and the other is the expansion of the EIB's European Tech Champions initiative, which was established last year to lend high-growth capital to high-tech companies, and the second is the expansion of the The creation of a platform. Start-up companies in later stages of growth.
The Tech Champions program will leverage the EIF's operation as a so-called fund of funds. That is, it is an investment fund that buys portfolios of various European asset managers allocated to European stocks, so there is no direct exposure to corporate assets. KK.
Meanwhile, Euractic understands that the EIB is still considering various options regarding its “exit platform” plans. In that case, the EIB could help larger companies acquire late-stage start-ups or underwrite share issues of these start-ups to take them to the public market.
The bank now expects these proposals to be “further discussed and finalized” with the EU's 27 finance ministers, who serve as bank presidents, “in cooperation with the European Commission.”
(Anna Brunetti | Euractiv.com)