SACE and Illimity bank partner to accelerate SME growth in Italy

By Gloria Methri

illimity and SACE have entered a new agreement to support Italian SMEs in their strategic investments, giving further momentum to the competitiveness and productivity of the country’s economy.

The partnership enables illimity to make SACE’s Garanzia Futuro available to businesses, this being designed to support the development and investments of companies in technical innovation and digitalisation processes on global markets.

Using a fully digitalised process, businesses will be able to obtain a 70% benefit from SACE’s Garanzia Futuro and receive medium- to long-term capital loans of up to €50 million. It will be possible to use loans both for future expenditure and for investments already made in the 18 months before the loan application date.

The partnership is therefore strengthened by this new instrument, which joins SACE’s Green Guarantee, already made available by illimity last December with the aim of supporting companies with investments designed to reduce environmental impact.

Stefano Ortolano, Head of Structured Finance at illimity said, “Right from the start, illimity’s mission has been to support Italian businesses with potential in their growth and development plans through the use of innovative and tailored solutions. The new agreement with SACE, which forms part of a broader partnership, goes precisely in this direction, and enables us to further extend the number of instruments we put at the disposal of companies every day”.

“With Garanzia Futuro our support for the investments made by businesses, especially SMEs, and for the Italian economy, becomes structural,” said Daniela Cataudella, Head of Dynamic Business Solutions in SACE. “Together with illimity we want to accompany Italian companies into the future, supporting them in their transition towards sustainability and innovation, so that they can optimise their processes and boost their operating profit and creditworthiness as a means of being increasingly competitive both in Italy and abroad.”