Madrid, November 26, 2020. COFIDES and the Basque Finance Institute today formalised their first joint venture following the partnership agreement signed between COFIDES and the Basque Government by way of the Basque Finance Institute, COFIDES and Basque Trade & Investment.

The Managing Director of COFIDES, Rodrigo Madrazo, the Managing Director of the Basque Finance Institute, Francisco Javier Arnaez, and the Chief Financial Officer of NBI Bearings Europe, Javier Raya, today signed a financing agreement under which COFIDES and the Basque Finance Institute will provide 9 million euros to NBI Bearings Europe, S.A. The Basque Finance Institute will provide 3 million euros and COFIDES will provide a co-investment loan of 6 million euros from its own resources and from the FONPYME. The total investment in the project is 15 million euros.

The financing will enable NBI Bearings Europe to acquire a Romanian company specialised in the casting, injection and machining of aluminium components for the automotive and industrial sectors in general. This is a strategic move as the project is located in an exceptional area, in one of the most significant manufacturing centres in Europe. This investment strengthens NBI's industrial division. In 2019, COFIDES also contributed to the manufacturing deployment of NBI Bearings Europe in India.

Following the signing of the agreement, the managing director of COFIDES Rodrigo Madrazo highlighted the "coordination and collaboration" with the Basque Government through the Basque Internationalisation Agency and the Basque Finance Institute, "which has made this first joint financing possible". "We hope that there will be more projects in which we can collaborate so as to continue supporting Basque companies in their process of international expansion so that they grow and become more robust, while at the same time contributing to the development of countries with emerging economies".

The director of NBI Bearings Europe, Javier Raya, said that they welcome the belief COFIDES has once more shown in their financing of this venture, as well as the significant support of the Basque Finance Institute. With this project, the NBI Group "will be able to have part of its manufacturing process located in the same place as its consumers (Central and Eastern Europe), it will own a plant with integrated manufacturing and it will take a huge step forward in terms of the Group's income and operating profit, especially in its industrial division, where the venture is taking place". He added, "This significant investment gives the Group access to the automotive sector and boosts cross-sales, as we hope to achieve volumes of work for the metal transformation and machining departments, both nationally and internationally”.

“We are pleased to be the first Basque company jointly supported by two institutions of the significance of COFIDES and the Basque Finance Institute”.

This venture is the result of the agreement formalised in mid-2019 between the Basque Finance Institute, COFIDES and Basque Trade & Investment (BTI) and the Basque Internationalisation Agency, which is part of the SPRI Group, with the aim of providing support for production and commercial investment initiatives by Basque companies abroad, especially in emerging countries and economies and in innovative sectors such as that of combatting climate change. The co-financing of projects such as the one formalised today with NBI Bearings Europe is not the only commitment made in the agreement. Rather the partnership is part of a joint action to promote the existing support for internationalisation and coordinated management in the detection of needs or opportunities and catering to requests from members of the asque business community seeking to internationalise.    

ABOUT THE BASQUE FINANCE INSTITUTE

The Basque Finance Institute (IVF in the Spanish acronym), affiliated with the Basque Government's Department of Economy and Finance, aims to act as an instrument of the financial and public credit policy of the Basque Regional Government. The institute was created in 2008 with the aim of becoming a public financing entity at the service of public policies and corporate engagement, in synergy with the industrial, business and corporate instruments of this government.

ABOUT NBI BEARINGS EUROPE

NBI Bearings Europe is a company based in Álava with nearly two decades of experience in the manufacture of bearings and metal parts. It began its internationalisation in 2006, with its deployment in China, where it is still present. It currently has five production plants in Spain with more than 180 employees and is present in Romania and India. It designs and manufactures bearings with high technical added value and parts for industry. Its production processes include machining, grinding, stamping and boiler making, all of which are applied to industrial sectors with advanced technical requirements. Since 2015, it has been listed on the Alternative Stock Market (MAB in the Spanish acronym), now called BME Growth.

ABOUT COFIDES

COFIDES is a state-owned company which has been offering financial support to Spanish companies investing abroad. COFIDES is accredited to the European Union (EU) to manage funds coming from the EU budget, allowing the structuring of transactions with a high impact on development. COFIDES is also accredited to the UN’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) and can therefore structure operations on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Moreover, COFIDES is the exclusive manager of FIEX and FONPYME funds on behalf of the Secretariat of State for Trade attached to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and also supports AECID in managing FONPRODE funds. COFIDES’s shareholders include Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America.