Dutch company NEOS collaborates with American investor to help Dutch SMEs with €1 billion credit fund

According to the latest reports swirling in the tech media world, the American investor KKR has plans to encourage the development of the Dutch small and medium-sized businesses. For this, the stock-listed US investor in collaboration with the British asset manager Schroders and the Dutch company NEOS will reportedly provide loans for which entrepreneurs cannot go to banks.

NEOS partners with KKR and Schroders

As announced recently, KKR is the principal financier in the new credit fund of € 1 billion, along with both the parties. The joint venture will offer alternative and flexible financing solutions to help a wide range of Dutch and German companies achieve their development and growth goals. With the launch of the new credit facility, they’re claiming it to be the largest private SME loan program in Europe, outperforming NEOS predecessor funds, which have been financially supported by two Dutch pension funds.

“We fill a gap that the banks leave behind. Many SMEs can hardly get loans up to €10 million. The new program meets that need,” Quirijn Haak, CEO of the Rotterdam lending platform NEOS was quoted saying in the FD.nl report. The Rotterdam lending platform NEOS KKR is the main investor in the joint venture and will put and manage the money of KKR and Schroders.

Meet the demands of SMEs

Further, the joint venture will focus on capitalising on attractive fundamentals and strong demand for private finance from Dutch and German SMEs. It will leverage NEOS’ platform and local market knowledge, as well as KKRs and Schroder’s global investment know-how. The global asset management company, Schroders is also a strategic shareholder of NEOS.

“The loan program is designed for growing companies that have already demonstrated excellence in their respective fields of expertise, and this program will allow NEOS to better address the increasing financing needs of the business world and help expand our product portfolio and our regional presence,” says Haak in a company press release.

“SMEs are the backbone of the European economy, and as a disciplined long-term investor we see great potential in financing this area, especially in Germany and the Netherlands,” says Daniel Pietrzak, Partner at KKR.

“SMEs in Europe are increasingly interested in debt financing solutions from non-banks, but at the same time trusted institutional investors are becoming increasingly familiar with providing growth financing to SMEs in return for higher returns than available in public markets.” We look forward to meeting the needs of our institutional clients in Europe, we have recently increased our stake in NEOS to 49% through our Private Market Initiative, “said Alan Cauberghs, Head of Private Assets at Schroders.

KKR, an active buyer

KKR has been an active buyer with a history of successful acquisitions. Last year, they bought the margarine branch from Unilever for € 6.8 billion and parking garage operator Q-Park for € 2.95 billion. Earlier, the investor was involved in the withdrawal of NXP from the Philips group. Further, with Schroders as a shareholder, NEOS has reportedly invested €92 million in less than two years with 135 smaller companies.

Now NEOS plans to meet the growing demand in the SMEs for larger loans with the collaboration with KKR and Schroders.

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