The path becomes a highway
“Considering the highly concentrated Lithuanian finance sector, we, here at the SBA Group have set the strategic goal to expand our financing instruments and geography. Now our work in establishing a network of potential partnerships abroad delivered results. RBI’s offer was the most competitive among several major foreign financial institutions in terms of both price and flexibility and is vastly beyond the usual standards on the local market. This contributes to the success of the Inno Line project and opens up new long-term opportunities,” says SBA Group’s Head of Treasury Ignas Mačeika.
With this example, SBA is debunking myths that projects in Lithuania do not interest major Western banks. Raiffeisen Bank International AG and its subsidiary banks operate in Austria and 13 Central and Eastern European countries, respectively, the bank has more than 17 million clients and total assets of almost 182 billion EUR. The bank is focusing particular attention on sustainable projects.
“It is a pleasure for RBI to not only contribute to the development of one of the most modern furniture factories in the region but also to provide a boost to the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly manufacturing buildings. The team at Raiffeisen Bank International is focused on both the projects we contribute to financially and the projects’ developers. As a relationship bank, we are confident that this will be only the first step towards fruitful cooperation between RBI and the SBA Group,” says the head of RBI’s Corporate Customer division Daniel Rath.
Mačeika notes that the loan negotiations proceeded in the midst of the pandemic, but despite the sizeable loan and complex structure, all the required client onboarding procedures and the specific financing project details were arranged remotely and smoothly, and the contract was signed without a single live meeting.
“We are certain that this long-term loan for a major project will encourage other businesses to start looking for any financing options in the West. The alternatives and possibilities to choose help to strengthen business’ negotiation positions in the local financing market. As Lithuanian business cooperation with financial partners abroad expands, the strategic entry of new players into the Lithuanian corporate credit market also becomes likely,” says SBA Group’s Head of Treasury.
Modern equipment in an innovative factory
Inno Line, which is being developed by SBA Home, the furniture manufacturing business group, will be the most robotised furniture factory in the region. The 50 thousand square-metre factory will host efficient automated production lines and 30 robotised technologies, with some of the manufacturing equipment among the fastest and most modern on the market.
The long-term loan issued by Raiffeisen Bank International will be used to purchase and install the factory’s equipment. A team of experienced and qualified employees is already being formed – it is planned that the factory will employ a total of 600 employees.
Sustainability will be a particular focus throughout the project’s development. Just like all other SBA companies, Inno Line will use only green energy, and there will be much attention dedicated to other solutions which will help to reduce CO2 emissions.
There are plans to invest 92 million euros into the project over multiple stages, and it is projected that the first furniture units will be manufactured in spring 2022 and over a year its sales should reach 100 million euros.
Due to its significant influence on the region and its strengthening of the Lithuanian furniture sector, the factory was the first in the country to be granted the status of a major investment project by the Ministry of the Economy and Innovations.
The SBA Group is one of the largest in Lithuania. It operates in the furniture manufacturing, textile, and real estate sectors. The SBA Group’s furniture manufacturing sector includes SBA Home, which manages six manufacturers: Klaipėdos Baldai, Šilutės Baldai, Germanika, Visagino Linija, Mebelain, Laminn, and Innovo Logistika, a logistics center operating in SBA Industrial Innovation Valley. The SBA furniture sector also includes the upholstered furniture manufacturer Kauno Baldai.
SBA also manages the robotics solutions company Robotex and SBA Modular, which anticipates manufacturing modular high-rise buildings. The group employs around 5,000 employees and exports its products to 50 countries around the world with its sales reaching 342.5 million euros in 2020.
