23 Nov 2016

NIB and SG Finans launch SME facility in Norway, partly Arctic

NIB and Norway’s SG Finans have launched a EUR 150 million loan facility for financing equipment leasing to small and medium-sized enterprises in Norway. Up to EUR 25 million of the facility is earmarked for projects located in the country’s Arctic areas.

Eligible projects to be financed from the lending facility should conform to NIB’s criteria for SMEs.

The new facility is a continuation of the cooperation between NIB and SG Finans that started in 2013, when NIB provided a EUR 80 million loan programme for financing equipment leasing contracts with Norwegian SMEs. The funds were allocated to 1,500 projects in the construction, high-tech, manufacturing and some other industries, with the aggregated project costs amounting to EUR 160 million.

“SME investments in the Arctic area are one of the drivers in boosting the competitiveness of the Nordic economies. NIB is launching the new facility in cooperation with SG Finans to help materialise this development”, says Henrik Normann, NIB President & CEO.

“SG Finans is very pleased to be a partner of the Nordic Investment Bank and this transaction continues the good relationship between our respective organisations. Financing of equipment to small and medium-sized businesses is at the core of SG Finans activities and our cooperation with NIB shall provide a sound basis for the creation of employment and development of SMEs in Norway and now particularly in the Arctic region”, says Hans Einar Herzog, Deputy CEO at SG Finans.

The new facility will be guaranteed by the parent bank, Société Générale. SG Finans is a major equipment leasing and factoring provider in Scandinavia.

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact

Ms Marjo Harri, Senior Director Origination, at +358 10 618 0227,

Mr Arild Moen, Senior Communications Officer, at +358 50 568 0420,

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