Madrid, November 28, 2023. COFIDES will support Sagardi Group in the opening of a new Mexican food restaurant in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Thus, COFIDES will provide 750,000 euros through a participatory loan charged to the Fund for Foreign Investment (FIEX).
Sagardi Group has experience both in the Dutch city (where it has had a Basque food restaurant since 2020) and in Mexican food establishments. This new restaurant will allow the group to strengthen its presence in Holland and continue its international expansion after the opening of various establishments in London, Porto, Amsterdam and Buenos Aires.
With a profitable and consolidated business model, Sagardi Group was affected by the restrictions and lockdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Group turned to financing from the Recapitalization Fund for companies affected by COVID-19 (FONREC). The company's evolution since then has been very positive and has been favored by the good general performance of the restaurant sector. As of today, Sagardi Group has paid down 60% of the financing obtained from FONREC and plans to repay the rest in the next year.
The corporate head of the COFIDES Investment Division, Miguel Ángel Ladero, has stated that projects like Sagardi's demonstrate "the effectiveness and suitability of FONREC, an instrument created to respond to the needs of SMEs in our country at an especially difficult time.” Likewise, he noted that "at COFIDES we are satisfied to be able to embark alongside the company on a new internationalization project for it to continue growing abroad and increase its volume of business after having overcome the negative effects of the pandemic."
The Financial Director of the Sagardi Group, Octavio López de Viñaspre, does indeed highly value the help provided by FONREC during the pandemic and, above all, the ease with which COFIDES has been able to read the new post-pandemic context, collaborating in the financing of new international projects by the Sagardi Group.
This transaction contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, on Gender Equality, and SDG 8, on Decent Work and Economic Growth. With this project, Sagardi Group hopes to create 30 jobs.
ABOUT SAGARDI GROUP
Dedicated to the operation of restaurants, Sagardi Group was founded in 1995 in Barcelona. It has 32 establishments in Spain, Portugal, Holland, Argentina, and the United Kingdom. It employs more than 560 people in its 32 restaurants.
ABOUT COFIDES
COFIDES is a state-owned enterprise specialized in the management of State funds that provide medium- and long-term financing for private investments linked to different public policy purposes. COFIDES directly manages funds aimed at supporting the internationalization of Spanish firms, strengthening the solvency of companies severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, to attract foreign direct investment into Spain through co-investment deals and to contribute to the growth of the impact investment ecosystem in Spain. In addition, COFIDES supports the management of the financial cooperation portfolio of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, promoting sustainable development in emerging economies and developing countries. In the ownership structure of the Company, the Spanish State holds 53% of the equity. The remaining 47% is held by Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).
