The lending platform October securitizes €200 million of loans to SMEs

The P2P lending platform for SMEs, October has allocated another $234 million (€200 million) to support Italian SMEs affected by the effects of the coronavirus, thanks to the structuring of a securitization operation of loans granted to companies by October that saw the Intesa Sanpaolo Group in the dual role of arranger and senior investor.

Find more details about the lending platform October and read the most important business news in the world with the Born2Invest mobile app.

The additional resources give new impetus to instant lending, introduced by October last July

In addition to the $234 million (€200 million) from the Intesa Sanpaolo Group and the equity investor for Italian companies, $23.4 million (€20 million) for European companies and a further $44.5 million (€38 million) were raised by various insurance companies and the Caisse des Dèpots et Consignation for companies in the tourism sector based in France.

The Instant Lending of October allows, through the predictive analysis of credit risk, a fully automatic evaluation of financing requests up to $293,000 (€250,000). Thanks to machine learning techniques for the evaluation of the risk of company default, the time required for the approval of financing is in fact reduced to a few minutes.

For the special servicing of loans and related guarantees issued by the Central Guarantee Fund, October has established a partnership with the NSA Group, Italy’s leading credit broker for companies in terms of turnover. Through its platform, the NSA Group will manage the entire cycle of guarantees issued by the Central Guarantee Fund.

Sergio Zocchi, CEO of October Italia, commented: “With this new operation we consolidate our role as a reliable partner for Italian companies. We have always believed in the synergy that can arise from the collaboration between banking operators and an innovative company like October that can provide the technology needed to accelerate and simplify access to credit. In Intesa Sanpaolo we have found a formidable interlocutor who, thanks to the vision of the large Group, immediately grasped the value we could put into the field by combining their respective specificities”.

In structuring the securitization, Intesa Sanpaolo Group used the services of the international law firm Jones Day in the role of transaction legal counsel, while the law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe assisted the equity investor. In structuring the partnership with October, the NSA Group engaged the services of the law firm Terrin.

New investors are expected to join the platform

October, with more than $470 million (€400 million) in funding provided to more than 840 companies globally (France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy), is the online funding platform for leading SMEs in continental Europe. Founded as Lendix by Oliver Goy in 2014, the company changed its name to October at the end of October 2018. The platform is active in 5 countries, including Italy. 

The territorial expansion was in fact one of the first goals mentioned by October in June 2018, when the last round of $37.5 million (€32 million) financing from venture capital and other investors (including Carlo De Benedetti’s CIR) was announced. Operating in Italy since May 2017, October has today financed 219 entrepreneurial projects in Italy for over $106 million (€91 million) (data at the end of August 2020).

Last May, October launched a new direct lending fund dedicated exclusively to investments in loans to Italian SMEs offered on the platform. October had already announced the first closing at $35 million (€30 million) thanks to the collaboration with five Confidi members of Federconfidi and Rete Fidi Italia and with the European Investment Fund. The subscribers are Neafidi, Confidi Systema!, Fidimpresa Italia, Confidi Sardegna, and Confidi Centro. However, new investors are expected to join in the coming months. Last September, October signed a partnership with Enel X, the Enel Group’s global business line dedicated to innovative products and digital solutions.

__

(Featured image by Tumisu via Pixabay)

DISCLAIMER: This article was written by a third party contributor and does not reflect the opinion of Born2Invest, its management, staff or its associates. Please review our disclaimer for more information.

This article may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “become,” “plan,” “will,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks as well as uncertainties, including those discussed in the following cautionary statements and elsewhere in this article and on this site. Although the Company may believe that its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, the actual results that the Company may achieve may differ materially from any forward-looking statements, which reflect the opinions of the management of the Company only as of the date hereof. Additionally, please make sure to read these important disclosures.

First published in Crowdfunding buzz, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

Although we made reasonable efforts to provide accurate translations, some parts may be incorrect. Born2Invest assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions or ambiguities in the translations provided on this website. Any person or entity relying on translated content does so at their own risk. Born2Invest is not responsible for losses caused by such reliance on the accuracy or reliability of translated information. If you wish to report an error or inaccuracy in the translation, we encourage you to contact us.