Sector developments and company hires

The EIF is supporting the Italian Guaranteed Loan Origination Platform (IGLOO), a new state-backed initiative that aims to provide €170m in opportunities for growth and financing for at least 800 SMEs and mid-caps in Italy. Promoted by Gruppo MutuiOnline and Gruppo NSA, the platform has a particular focus on criteria relating to climate transition and environmental sustainability.

The EIF will participate via a €50m investment in a securitisation operation, with the remaining €120m to be provided by partners in the initiative and Italian institutional investors. The securitisation was structured by Société Générale on a portfolio of loans originated by credit brokerage firm NSA SRL and NSA SpA, a company that manages MCC and SACE guarantees.

The loans are provided by Centro Finanziamenti and managed by Quinservizi, a subsidiary of Gruppo MutuiOnline. Banca Finint will act both as sponsor bank and master servicer.

The EIF will use its own resources to directly acquire senior and/or mezzanine securities issued by the platform. The project is the first securitisation initiative in Italy that is intended to create an alternative financing channel via a ramp-up structure over a one-year horizon.

NSA will use the platform to process part of its €37.5m earmarked for green financing, governed by criteria relating to climate transition and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, each loan in the securitised portfolio will be covered by the public guarantee of the Guarantee Fund for SMEs, as well as the criteria for climate action and environmental sustainability defined by the EIB and applied by the EIF.

In other news…..

EMEA

Lakemore has announced Arno van den Heiligenberg as its new md and head of business development for Europe. The newly created position builds upon the firm’s global expansion, having already established its presence in the US with the opening of its Phoenix, Arizona office last year. Heiligenberg joins Lakemore from UBS Wealth Management, where he most recently stood as its global co-head of investment fund sales. With more than twenty years of experience in expanding the businesses of global financial institutions, Heiligenberg will be responsible for developing relationships with clients across Europe, and offering European firms access to US CLO investment opportunities.

North America

Greystone has announced several new senior hires in latest bid to expand its CMBS platform and become a leading provider of conduit loans for the CRE market. Russ Avery will join as head of structuring for the CMBS platform, having previously served as a director in CMBS at Deutsche Bank where he focused on conduit risk pricing and bond structuring across all conduit and SASB transactions. Avery will be based in New York and will be joined by three new additions to the CMBS team in the Charlotte, North Carolina office. Tricia Baker, Clark Andersen, and Chris Troutman will join Greystone’s CMBS platform as mds - with Baker serving as head of transaction management - from Alston & Bird, CCRE and Regions Bank respectively.