M&A
MAN invests in truck lessor
German heavy CV manufacturer MAN
intends to acquire a majority share in truck leasing company
Euroleasing, giving it access to a fleet of some 1,000
vehicles.
MAN already had a 25.1 percent stake in
Euroleasing, but this was diluted to 16 percent after a capital
increase. Now, a company spokesperson has said that the truckmaker
wishes to buy another 33.39 percent stake in order to achieve a
majority.
CORPORATE FINANCE
UniCredit Leasing gets €300m from
EIB
UniCredit Leasing is to receive €300
million in funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to
support SMEs.
The agreement signed between the EU
long-term lending institution and the Milan-headquartered lessor
forms part of the policy that the EIB is implementing, in
co-operation with banking groups, aimed at improving small
businesses’ access to credit.
Further agreements to support SMEs in
Austria, Germany and Poland will be announced soon, the EIB
added.
ASSOCIATIONS
Estonian lessors see growth at
last
The Estonian leasing association has
reported that new business written by members was up nearly 7
percent in October, from €22 million to €23.5 million – a
sign
of recovery in the Baltic leasing market.
Finance leasing made up 60 percent of
this new business, and operating leasing just 32 percent, the
association noted.
But while new business volumes may be
beginning to recover, Estonian lessors still have a long way to go
– July’s total of €22.5 million was 75 percent down on the
equivalent figure in 2008.
French leasing declines again
The French equipment leasing industry
continued to see a decline in new business in the third quarter of
last year, writing just over €5 billion, figures from the French
leasing association, ASF, showed.
Although this was the fourth
consecutive quarter that equipment leasing recorded a decline, the
ASF noted that the 24.3 percent decline in the third quarter was
not as strong as the 28.9 percent fall in the second quarter, and
the 25.6 percent fall in the first quarter.
Leaseurope welcomes Swedish Car Rental
Association
The Swedish car rental association,
Biluthyrarna Sverige, has joined Leaseurope, bringing the number of
Leaseurope members to 47 associations in 33 European countries.
“Joining Leaseurope provides us with
additional leverage to safeguard and promote the interests of our
members, especially when dealing with such important issues such as
security, cross-border rental and vehicle taxation,” said Roger
Ekdahl, director general of Biluthyrarna Sverige.
Strategy
Poland’s Millennium aims for 30%
growth
Bank Millennium aims to grow its
leasing business in Poland by 30 percent in 2010, the Portuguese
BCP subsidiary has announced. Andrzei Glinski, head of corporate
banking at Bank Millennium, said that leasing and factoring were
“strategic products” for Millennium, and that the goal was to grow
the number of SME customers.
“We want to be much more active in
corporate lending, in all segments of the market,” he said. “We
expect that leasing and factoring will grow much faster than the
market – our ambition is to significantly increase market
share.”
