OREANDA-NEWS. February 13, 2013. An EBRD long-term loan of EUR 150 million will back the investments of Gestamp Automocion SA, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of auto parts. It is aimed at upgrading its Russian, Polish, Hungarian and Turkish plants which supply assembly lines set up by major international car manufacturers in these four markets, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

Gestamp, a Spanish-registered and family-controlled group, plans to invest EUR 255 million in capital expenditure up to 2016. This will enable the company to move closer to its key customers in these countries, a key goal to increasing its competitiveness and part of a strategy to foster long-term relationships with such major clients on a global scale.

Highlighting the EBRD’s role in advancing the long-term funding such industrial investments require, the package includes a EUR 50 million loan which will provide for a bullet repayment at the end of seven years as well as a seven-year A loan of EUR 60 million with a two-year grace period under an EBRD A/B loan structure.

The remaining EUR 40 million has been syndicated to three international banks under a five-year EBRD B loan with UniCredit Bank Austria AG taking a EUR 20 million participation, the Spanish subsidiary of France’s Societe Generale group taking EUR 13 million and Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA taking EUR 7 million.

The Bank remains the lender of record for the full EUR 150 million. The EBRD’s participation was crucial for extending the average maturity of this funding beyond five years.

This transaction will facilitate the transfer of state-of-the-art technology and skills to the domestic supply chain in these countries, as well as promote the localisation of passenger car assembly by the world’s leading automakers, said Alain Pilloux, EBRD Managing Director for Industry, Commerce and Agribusiness.

Gestamp is a global leader in the design and manufacture of metal components for automakers. Its clients in the four countries concerned include Audi, Fiat, Ford, GM, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, PSA, Renault-Nissan and VW. The group employs over 25,000 people in 19 countries.

Over 80 per cent of this EUR 150 million EBRD funding is earmarked for investments in Russia and Turkey. Russia is Europe’s second-largest auto market after Germany while Turkey is increasingly becoming a producer of cars for export.

In Russia, where Gestamp has plants in Kaluga, St Petersburg and Togliatti, it will invest further in robotics, laser equipment and other advanced technologies. The project should also provide an incentive to Russian steel producers to specialise in the high-quality steel necessary to meet carmakers’ specifications.

In Turkey, where the company operates two plants in Bursa and one in Gebze, it will invest in new hot stamping lines, new presses and welding robots for the Renault Clio and Ford Transit projects, as well as a new assembly line for the Ford Fiesta.