(Finance) – With emissions by 39 small and medium-sized enterprises that reach i 150 million eurosi Minibond of the Puglia Region complete the regional programming cycle 2014-2020. The latest issues, just concluded, continue to demonstrate the effectiveness of the instrument which, for the first time in Puglia and among the first cases in Italy, allowed small and medium-sized businesses to access the capital market by issuing bonds. Thus, thanks to public intervention, SMEs have had access to alternative forms of financing to innovate, expand and become more competitive.
An opportunity born in 2019 and not to be taken for granted considering the events that characterized the following four years, from the pandemic to the war in the heart of Europe, from the energy crisis to the conflict in the Middle East. And, despite all this, companies have continued to invest, increasing their level of process and product innovation.
This is demonstrated precisely by the latest issues ranging from clothing sector to logistics servicesie which also involve other sectors such as the distillation of alcoholic beverages, the development and organization of sales networks, transport, tourist accommodation facilities, the diffusion of electrically powered vehicles, the development of software. In this latest closing, 12 companies issued the Minibonds for a total value of 38.9 million euros.
This is Airon (Barletta – Bat); Zero & Company (Terlizzi – Ba); Levante Logistics (Modugno – Ba); Bartin Distillery (Mottola – Ta); Mana (Monopoli – Ba); Stante Logistics (Modugno – Ba); Ilog & T (Modugno and Corato – Ba); Apulia Hotel (Castellana Grotte – Ba and Ostuni – Br); T&M Integrated Logistics (Modugno – Ba); Dom.Pla (Altamura – Ba); Omnitech (Modugno – Ba); Sidea Group (Fasano – Br and Bari).
The financial instrument, designed in the form of a basket bond, is the result of collaboration between multiple subjects. The Fund, wanted by the Puglia Region, is managed by the in-house and regional financial company Puglia Sviluppo which ensures a portfolio guarantee equal to 25% of the total amount of securities issued and see UniCredit operate as originator and arranger and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Mediocredito Centrale as institutional investors who financially support the projects.
Thanks to Minibonds, companies can finance extraordinary operations, investments and working capital. The operation was possible thanks to resources for almost 40 million euros made available by the regional finance company and used as portfolio guarantee. The 150 million euros of emissions represent a significant result for such an innovative measure, implemented in a southern region and in a scenario complicated by unexpected global events with a very strong impact on the economic system.
“By measuring ourselves with this innovative finance instrument that opens up to the capital market – underlined the president of the Puglia Region Michele Emiliano – the production system of Puglia, made up mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises, has shown proof of dynamism, courage and above all vision. The Apulian Minibonds create a successful precedent that we will also take into high consideration in the 2021-2027 planning cycle. We are thinking of a new edition of the measure that is even more innovative and ready to face new challenges.”
“Minibonds are proof that in Puglia you can dare even with particularly innovative measures”, added the councilor for economic development of the Puglia region Alessandro Delli Noci. “But they also represent our gateway to the future because they offer companies valid support to address issues such as the digital and energy transition. The history of our Minibonds developed in a global context that was impossible to predict, but despite everything the measure it went ahead to allow issues for 150 million euros. It is the demonstration that the capital market, thanks also to public guarantees, is a valid resource for the development of the territory”.
“Thanks to this result – underlined the president of Puglia Sviluppo Grazia D’Alonzo – innovative finance instruments are candidates to be part of the package of regional measures managed by Puglia Sviluppo, also in the 2021-2027 regional programme. The industrial policy of the Puglia Region has the merit of integrating financial instruments with other development measures, encouraging full complementarity. Together they have guaranteed important support in recent years, which has mobilized investments of over 8.4 billion euros and contributed to improving the economic reputation of Puglia”.
“With these latest issues, the experience of the first and largest regional basket bond at market level is successfully completed”, he explained Remo Taricani, deputy head for Italy at UniCredit. “The initiative has allowed many Apulian companies to make a qualitative leap in terms of opening up to the capital market, placing Puglia among the top regions in Italy in terms of minibond issuers, a sign of a growing financial maturity of the system local production. We are proud to have played an important role in this operation which, alongside the Region, Puglia Sviluppo, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Mediocredito Centrale, allowed us to mobilize new resources to support the companies’ investment projects local, additional to our traditional lending activity, confirming us among the main architects of the region’s economic growth”.
“The increasingly widespread diffusion of basket bonds is the best and most evident testimony of how alternative finance constitutes a consolidated tool capable of effectively supporting dynamic and innovative businesses such as those in Puglia. The recently finalized program, the result of synergies between the Public Administration, institutional investors and the banking system, demonstrates how the diversification of financing sources represents an important success factor for entrepreneurial companies with ambitious growth plans at both a national and international level”, he commented Andrea Nuzzi, responsible for Businesses and Financial Institutions of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. “This initiative is a further important piece of the strategy undertaken by CDP to actively support the territories of Southern Italy”.
“As an investor in basket bonds, we support Puglia companies in their development and growth path”, he commented Francesco Minotti, CEO of Mediocredito Centrale. “We are very proud of this collaboration with Puglia Sviluppo, one of the first regional finance companies to have launched a tool that encourages the opening of local SMEs to the capital market. Our Group supports the southern production system both by using innovative finance tools such as basket bonds, and by ensuring credit and services to businesses every day through the branches of BdM Banca (formerly Banca Popolare di Bari), a Group company rooted in and dedicated to the South”.