Frankfurt am Main, 13
July 2020 – The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World
Bank Group, and ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA (ProCredit Holding;
ProCredit) are providing targeted financing to small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) to enable them to bridge COVID-19-related liquidity
bottlenecks and to take advantage of potential opportunities arising from the
crisis. For this purpose IFC is granting a loan of USD 100 million to ProCredit
Holding. The loan is being granted under the IFC’s Working Capital Solutions
(WCS) programme.
The funds will be available at short
notice to qualified SMEs in nine of the altogether twelve ProCredit banks.
These are the ProCredit banks in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador,
Kosovo, Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine.
The Management Board of ProCredit Holding
is firmly convinced that the ProCredit banks are well positioned to play an
important and positive role in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in
their respective countries. In the Board’s view, a robust SME sector will be of
central importance for the macroeconomic recovery of the countries in which
ProCredit banks operate, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The Management
Board is confident that the funds made available by ProCredit’s long-standing
partner IFC will enable well-positioned SMEs to develop further and find new
business opportunities.
“This financing is designed to support
SMEs whose cashflows have been impacted by the pandemic” said Vittorio Di
Bello, IFC’s Regional Head of Industry for Financial Institutions in Europe and
Central Asia. “ProCredit’s SME focus and extensive geographic outreach will be
instrumental in improving access to financing to these enterprises, which are
usually underserved and in need of it the most.”
IFC is a shareholder of ProCredit Holding and in 2019 it invested USD 90
million in ProCredit Holding’s first ever Green Bond issue.
Contact:
- Andrea Kaufmann, Group Communications, ProCredit
Holding, Tel.: +49 69 951 437 138,
E-mail: Andrea.Kaufmann@procredit-group.com- Jennifer Bisping, IFC Vienna, Tel.: +43 1 21 70 588, E-mail: jbisping@ifc.org
About
the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
IFC – a sister organization of the World
Bank and member of the World Bank Group – is the largest global development
institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more
than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create
markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2019, we
invested more than $19 billion in private companies and financial institutions
in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end
extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org.
About
ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA
ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA, based in
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, is the parent company of the development-oriented
ProCredit group, which consists of commercial banks for small and medium
enterprises (SMEs). In addition to its operational focus on South Eastern and
Eastern Europe, the ProCredit group is also active in South America and
Germany. The company’s shares are traded on the Prime Standard segment of the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The anchor shareholders of ProCredit Holding AG &
Co. KGaA include the strategic investors Zeitinger Invest and ProCredit Staff
Invest (the investment vehicle for ProCredit staff), the Dutch DOEN
Participaties BV, KfW Development Bank and IFC (part of the World Bank Group).
As the group’s superordinated company according to the German Banking Act,
ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA is supervised on a consolidated level by
the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für
Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, BaFin) and the German Bundesbank. For additional
information, visit: www.procredit-holding.com.
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains statements relating to our
future business development and financial performance, as well as statements
relating to future actions or developments affecting ProCredit Holding or
the ProCredit banks which may constitute forward-looking statements. Such
statements are based on the management of ProCredit Holding’s current
expectations and specific assumptions, many of which are beyond the control of
ProCredit Holding or of the ProCredit banks. They are therefore subject to
a multitude of risks, uncertainties and factors. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialise, or should underlying expectations or
assumptions prove incorrect, then the actual results, performance and
achievements (both negative and positive) of ProCredit Holding or of the
ProCredit banks may differ significantly from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statement. ProCredit Holding or the ProCredit banks do not
undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements or to
correct them in the event of deviations from the expected development.