MADRID, 31 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Almost half of the debt funds in Spain believe that their cost will increase due to the current situation, although, in exchange, their structures will be more flexible and adaptable to a potential slowdown, according to the II Fund Financing Barometer Debt, prepared by the professional services firm BDO.
According to the results of this report, 85% of debt funds have increased their financing volume in the last two years as a result of the pandemic.
During this period, the Government has granted more than 122,000 million euros of financing to the Spanish business fabric. 76% of the funds consulted by BDO consider that these loans will be refinanced by banks and by debt funds in an equitable manner, compared to 24% who believe that “a large number of bankruptcy situations” will occur.
The study reveals that almost nine out of ten funds consider that the competitive environment has been affected by the increase in competition in the alternative financing market through the entry of new funds in Spain.
In this sense, BDO points out that private debt funds are going to be essential in the refinancing processes of companies by offering alternative debt models. In fact, just over half of the funds surveyed by the firm, specifically 54%, recognize that high inflation and the potential rise in interest rates are affecting alternative financing conditions.
Likewise, almost half, 48%, expect the costs of alternative financing to increase in the next two years.
Pablo Simón, partner of the Debt area
“Despite the current context, the funds will act as receivers of the demand from the business fabric, providing new structures, volume of financing, betting on many sectors and being flexible in their approaches”, he added.
In this sense, the funds participating in the study agree that the most attractive sectors are the agri-food sector, with a preference of 83%, followed by the health-pharma sector (76%); IT and technology (72.5%), and energy (60%).
At the other extreme, the sectors least valued by the funds due to their lower capacity for innovation are the public sector, with 83% resistance; the ‘retail-non food’ (76%), and services, with a (68%).
On the other hand, the report shows that, given the increase in energy costs, the attractiveness of certain sectors for the investor “appetite” has been reduced, as in the case of metallurgical and iron and steel (15%), ceramics (12%) and the automotive industry (11%).