Related News

The Netherlands Development Finance Company

  • FMO and Costa Rican Banco Interfin have signed a US$22mn syndicated loan facility that will provide long-term finance for leasing and for the financing of small and medium enterprises.

     

    This syndicated loan will enlarge the access to leasing for SME companies in Central America. Through this loan facility small and medium enterprises will gain access to productive assets like vehicles and other equipment to grow and expand their business.

     

    “The leasing market in Central America is highly underdeveloped. This FMO syndicated loan facility will give an important boost to the development of a regional leasing market,” investment officer Jarl Heijstee of FMO explains.

     

    FMO is mandated lead arranger of the US$22mn syndicated loan. FMO is joined in the A/B loan structure by Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones (Bladex), Natexis Banques Populaires “New York branch and Banco Continental de Panam as co-arrangers and Baden-Wurttembergische Bank as manager.

     

    “This loan is a welcome addition to our funding and will enable Interfin to continue with our plan to expand its leasing business in the region,” CEO Luis Liberman of Banco Interfin states. “Interfin has been successful in spreading the advantages of leasing to small and medium-scale firms in Central America and it has leasing companies in each country and offices in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador.”

     

    FMO has been active in the financial sector in Central America for many decades and has an outstanding portfolio of US$140mn. A large part of this portfolio is dedicated to financing small and medium-sized enterprises. Banco Interfin is the largest private commercial bank in Costa Rica and market leader in the leasing business. FMO has been a close partner of Banco Interfin for more than 10 years.

     

    The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) is the international development bank of the Netherlands. FMO invests risk capital in companies and financial institutions in developing countries. FMO’s investment portfolio is €2bn and FMO is one of the largest bilateral development banks worldwide. Thanks in part to its relationship with the Dutch government, FMO is able to take risks which commercial financiers are not – or not yet – prepared to take. FMO‘s mission: to create flourishing enterprises, which can serve as engines of sustainable growth in their countries.