• Provides a total of 50 million euros for the capacity expansion of three productive subsidiaries.
• The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, has attended the formalization of the financing agreements.
Madrid, March 05, 2019.- Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo, COFIDES, S.A., S.M.E., will grant 50 million euros to the automobile components manufacturer CIE Automotive to contribute to the group's growth in Mexico.
The President and Chief Executive Officer of COFIDES, José Luis Curbelo, and the Chief Executive Officer of CIE Automotive, Jesús Maria Herrera, have signed the financing agreements at the COFIDES headquarters in Madrid in the presence of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, and the President of CIE, Antón Pradera.
The financing will be provided via three co-investment loans charged to the own resources of COFIDES and the FIEX, which COFIDES exclusively manages on behalf of the Secretary of State for Trade.
Thus, COFIDES will provide 50 out of the over 75 million euros of total investment required by the projects. On the one hand, 21 million euros for the execution of new projects of the company CIE Celaya, dedicated to stamping and aluminum injection. It was with this company that CIE Automotive began its activity in Mexico in 2003, when it also had COFIDES support. On the other hand, 18.5 million euros will be granted to the company CIE Pemsa, specialized in stamping, assembly and painting production processes, and 10.5 million euros to CIE Nugar, dedicated to stamping and assembly. With these investments, CIE Automotive will be able to expand the capacity of these plants and meet the demand of new customers.
COFIDES and CIE Automotive have collaborated since 2004 in various projects to support the group's international strategy in Mexico, as well as in the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Romania.
The President of COFIDES, José Luis Curbelo, highlighted that CIE Automotive is committed to R&D in order to develop innovative and efficient products that place the Spanish automotive sector in positions of global leadership and to respond to the interests and new demands of the market. In addition, he added that "the group's international growth supports its competitiveness at the same time that it contributes to the creation of quality employment".
In the words of Jesús Maria Herrera, Chief Executive Officer of CIE Automotive: "In a context of diversification of the group's funding sources, we thank COFIDES for its firm commitment to the CIE project, enabling this funding for the expansion and modernization of our productive capacity in Mexico, and ultimately reinforcing the competitiveness of the Spanish automotive industry in a global sector like this one ".
CIE Automotive is an industrial group specialized in high added value processes based in Bilbao. It is a global supplier of components and sub-assemblies for the automotive market that offers a business model based on the diversification of technologies, customers and geographies, which gives it a unique positioning and allows the company to supply a wide variety of products to diverse customers located in the main markets worldwide. The group has 98 production plants in 17 countries and employs more than 23,000 people.
COFIDES is a public-private partnership that since 1988 offers financial support to the investments of Spanish companies abroad. Exclusively manages the FIEX and FONPYME funds on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce, attached to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. Banco Santander Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and CAF-Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina also participate in its shareholding.
