News

The CEB supports OSEO’s action in favour of French SMEs

8 December 2008

PARIS - François Drouin, Chairman and CEO of OSEO, and Raphaël Alomar, Governor of the CEB, today signed a loan worth 100 million euros aimed at strengthening the financial resources made available to SMEs. The targeted businesses are located in the regions of France most affected by unemployment so as to enable them to undertake the productive investments needed to maintain and develop their activities.

The long-term resources granted by the CEB will enable OSEO Financing to intensify its direct loans to SMEs, in particular with a view to financing heavy corporal investments (real estate and large-scale equipment programmes) for which the financial capacity of SMEs is often limited.

On this occasion, Raphaël Alomar and François Drouin expressed their satisfaction with respect to the continuing partnership between the CEB and OSEO, indicating that this joint undertaking would contribute to providing support for the local economic fabric as well as to preserving and creating jobs in French SMEs in a particularly difficult economic context.

OSEO is a public organisation supporting innovation and growth in businesses. It covers three complementary areas of activity:
• providing innovation support (subsidies and reimbursable advances),
• funding investments and the operating cycle, alongside banks,
• guaranteeing funding granted by banks and equity capital investors.  

More particularly, OSEO provides funding in the more risky phases in the life of an SME – creation, transfer, innovation, growth, development, particularly international – in partnership with all the economic actors.


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