IFC Invests in BT Leasing to Boost Access to SMEs and Sustainable Energy Finance in Romania

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing EUR 18.5 million in financing to BT Leasing Transilvania to increase access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to finance climate leasing in Romania.

IFC is the lead investor in a bond issued by the company, which has raised EUR 40 million with the participation of other private investors. The bond is listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The proceeds from the bond will support economic activity among SMEs, which have limited access to funding in Romania. This is the first senior unsecured bond issued by a Romanian leasing company, helping its efforts to diversify funding sources by tapping the country’s capital markets. IFC’s investment will also help Romania make progress in the energy-efficiency and renewable-energy sectors, as half of the investment is earmarked for sustainable-energy projects.

“We are pleased to be Romania’s first leasing company to issue a sizeable senior unsecured bond and we are happy to see investor confidence and appetite for it,” said Ionut Morar, BT Leasing’s General Director. “This financing will enable us to grow our sustainable-energy financing portfolio while increasing our support to SMEs.”

“Deepening the financial markets and increasing access to finance, particularly for SMEs, are among IFC’s top priorities in Romania,” said Thomas Lubeck, IFC Regional Manager for Central and Southeast Europe. “We expect this financing to increase economic activity and create jobs at the SME level while addressing the pressing need to increase investments in energy-efficiency projects in Romania.”

BT Leasing is a subsidiary of Banca Transilvania S.A., an IFC client since 2004, when IFC first extended a loan to the bank for mortgage on-lending. Since then, IFC has invested in the bank through a series of senior, subordinated, and convertible debt instruments.