Norway’s Eksfin grants EUR 70m ‘shopping line’ to Fincantieri
Eksfin (Export Finance Norway) has established an EUR 70m export buyer credit guarantee for Europe’s largest shipyard group for the procurement of a wide range of maritime equipment and service deliveries from Norwegian exporters, according to the company's release.
Italy’s Fincantieri is one of the world's leading shipbuilding groups and a significant global buyer of maritime equipment. As a global leader in several newbuilding segments, including cruise and naval, it also owns Norwegian shipyard group VARD, which currently has several vessels on order in the offshore wind space as well as other specialized vessels.
Buyer credit facilities granted by Eksfin are expected to be of key strategic importance for Norwegian maritime suppliers as a means to increase sales. By ‘buying Norwegian’, Fincantieri gains access to competitive Eksfin financing, making Norwegian exporters more competitive in turn. The instrument is designed to make purchases both more accessible and attractive by consolidating smaller individual procurements into a larger guaranteed facility.
The Norwegian maritime industry is in the midst of a major transition towards new segments within cruise and offshore renewables, while at the same time developing environmentally friendly energy-efficiency and alternative fuel solutions as part the maritime green shift. Based on Fincantieri's large orderbook and historical procurements from Norway, the credit line from Eksfin will contribute to further value creation for Norwegian exporters.
In recent years, Fincantieri has purchased a significant amount of equipment and services from close to 40 different exporters throughout Norway, include large vendors such as Brunvoll, IMS Group, Jets Vacuum, Kongsberg Maritime, Scanship, Wärtsilä Valmarine, and Yara Marine Technologies, and various smaller contracts with niche SMEs. The Eksfin credit line is structured in such a way that Fincantieri can use the facility over the next two years for further procurements.
The facility applies to paid purchases from Norwegian exporters, providing a Norwegian AAA-rated state guarantee for a loan facility from Banco Santander covering 90% of the bank's risk exposure. The transaction thereby contributes to creating closer links between the Norwegian maritime supply industry and Fincantieri as a major buyer.
Eksfin promotes Norwegian exports through supporting Norwegian companies, overseas purchasers and their banks with state-backed loans, guarantees and skilled advisory services. Eksfin promotes sales contracts globally, infrastructure investments in Norway and other types of financial transactions that strengthen Norwegian value creation. Eksfin is a state-owned management company under the umbrella of the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Fisheries, and was established on 1 July 2021 through the merger of GIEK – the Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency – and Export Credit Norway AS. Eksfin employs 130 people at its headquarters in Oslo.
Fincantieri employs over 20,000 people across 18 shipyards on four continents. The company is headquartered in Trieste, Italy, and is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange. The Italian state has a controlling ownership stake of over 70%.
