Madrid, the 11th of February 2018.- COFIDES will support the Grupo Marsan, a company from the automobile industry, for the setting-up of an epoxy surface coating plant in Mexico.

COFIDES will provide 1,000,000 euro by means of a co-investment loan to the project company, Itech Ecoenergías S.A. of CV, funded by its own resources (25%) and the FONPYME (75%). The total investment is 1.5 million euro.

COFIDES partnered with this SME when it began operations in Celaya (in the state of Guanajuato) in 2013. Subsequently, in 2016, the company set up a second paint production plant for one of its main clients in Villagrán. With this new financing, Grupo Marsan will acquire equipment and facilities so as to begin production in a third paint plant in Villagrán-Celaya.

The COFIDES chairman, José Luis Curbelo, pointed out that “the automobile sector is one of the most competitive and innovative sectors of the Spanish economy and it must remain competitive in the context of the global changes in the mobility sector.” In addition, he said that “it is very important that SMEs invest abroad and grow in the global economy, as in this way they strengthen their position and increase in size.”

The Grupo Marsan chairman, Luciano Martínez Covelo, explained that the market currently recognises Grupo Marsan as one of the world's leading industrial painters, specilaising in Surface Coatings for the automobile industry.

The company is a supplier of products and services to the automobile industry and has been operating in the sector since 1951.

In addition, it provides service to the supply chain by means of Metal Processing, Component Assembly and Delivery Logistics.

Since 2016, Grupo Marsan has had its own technology centre, responsible for the company's R + D + i activities, as well as for meeting the needs of all operators in the automobile sector.

COFIDES is a public-private company which has been offering financial support to Spanish companies investing abroad since 1988. It 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. Shareholders include Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Santander, Banco Sabadell and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America.