45 Million Euros from the European Investment Bank for Sacmi Group research and development

SACMI (Società Anonima Cooperativa Meccanica Imola), the leading international designer and producer of machines and complete plants for the ceramic, packaging, beverage, food and plastic industries, recently obtained funding amounting to 45 million Euros, provided entirely by the European Investment Bank (BEI) and backed by a SACE-issued financial guarantee of 25 million Euros.

This 5-year loan will allow the Group - based in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna but with production facilities and subsidiary companies in 26 countries – to sustain key R&D projects, especially as regards new technological applications for developing and perfecting its machines, improving system quality and technical performance and raising energy efficiency while lowering emissions.

SACMI has built and maintained its leadership position through innovation and a well-honed capacity for international market penetration. This financing agreement is thus of great strategic importance to the Group and will allow it to pursue ever-greater degrees of competitiveness against a challenging economic backdrop.

Synergic action by BEI and SACE gives this operation a significance that goes far beyond the mere financial; in addition to confirming SACMI’s soundness and strategic clarity, it also constitutes a statement of trust and optimism for the entire Italian manufacturing sector, whose unrivalled technological excellence continues to be world-beating.

SACE, based in Modena, Emilia Romagna, is one of SACMI’S longest-standing partners. For more than 30 years it has been providing SACMI with insurance-financial services to sustain its overseas development programs; in 2012 SACMI was officially acknowledged by SACE as one of its highest-volume guaranteed business customers.
The operation was devised and structured with the aid of the Mittel Group, advisor to the SACMI Group.