Geneva, 15 May 2020 – Symbiotics, with the support of High Impact Capital Advisors (HICA) has raised CNY 63,000,000 (approx. USD 8,900,000) for CD Finance, a Chinese microfinance company focused on empowering the rural economy and the development of underserved groups, thereby alleviating poverty.
CD Finance’s goal is to support microentrepreneurs by providing productive financing. Through its loan offering, CD Finance seeks to support rural clients in producing income-generating activities and providing working capital for micro borrowers, especially women.
“I want to congratulate Symbiotics and CD Finance for consummating this deal at a very challenging time for the world. In moments like these, it is important for the impact investing community to stand up and be counted. We must demonstrate our values of mutual responsibility to survive, revive and ultimately reshape a better system that will be more resilient to deal with challenges like this pandemic.” affirmed Steven Ying, Managing Partner at High Impact Capital Advisors.
“The Symbiotics and CD Finance deal makes total economic sense too. CD Finance is a quality company. Symbiotics is a savvy impact investor with impeccable timing to acquire quality assets.” he continued.
“COVID-19 has greatly affected people’s lives and our economies without exception. The shock of the pandemic on the rural communities has been unprecedented. Although COVID-19 is mostly contained and controlled in China, economies, especially businesses in rural areas have not recovered and will probably take a while before returning to normal. At critical times like these, the loan from Symbiotics not only provides much needed funds, but also strengthens CD Finance’s capacity in delivering micro financial services to help rural businesses to recover from the pandemic.” said Mr. Liu Dongwen, CEO of CD Finance.
Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Bonds S.A., an insolvency remote securitization company domiciled in Luxembourg sponsored by Symbiotics, has entered into a two-year, senior unsecured, local currency loan agreement with CD Finance. The loan was backed by the issuance of impact bonds to investors who wish to provide finance to microfinance institutions, small and medium sized banks, and other companies located in emerging markets.
“We are thrilled to close this new transaction with CD Finance to support microentrepreneurs in China. We have been providing debt funding to CD Finance since 2016 and are proud to have such a strong partner to cater to the financial needs of micro and small businesses predominately located in remote rural areas where financial services are still scarce. We believe the timing of this investment is particularly important as it will allow thousands of businesses to resume activities after having suffered a two-month long lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.” declared Daniel Schriber, Head of Investments at Symbiotics
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About Symbiotics
Symbiotics is the leading market access platform for impact investing, dedicated to financing micro- small and medium enterprises and low- and middle-income households in emerging and frontier markets. Since 2005, Symbiotics has structured and originated some 4,000 deals for over 450 companies in almost 90 emerging and frontier markets representing more than USD 5.5 billion. These investments have been purchased by more than 25 fund mandates and more than 50 third party specialized fund managers, forming a growing ecosystem and marketplace for such transactions.
symbioticsgroup.com
About High Impact Capital Advisors
Established in 2011, High Impact Capital Advisors (HICA) specializes in helping successful investors and leading businesses create substantial impact alongside profits. Guided by a fundamental commitment to building a just and sustainable society, we are passionate about deploying capital to businesses solving social or environmental problems that matter to the world. More than just impact financing, we bring together the diverse professional expertise, international networks, and proprietary knowledge to “add value”. Since 2018, HICA has advised over USD 500 million debt and equity financing for Chinese non-bank financial institutions. On a risk adjusted basis, HICA has delivered above market rates of returns while creating substantial societal impact. Our investors are mostly institutional investors, including the world’s largest bilateral and multilateral DFIs, and impact fund and green fund managers.
hicadvisors.com
About CD Finance
CD Finance is a microfinance service provider that strives to serve the best interest of clients in responsible ways. Composed of CD Finance Management Co., Ltd. and its rural financial enterprises and rural service enterprises. We provide a range of customized financial services, mainly microcredit, for unserved and underserved low- and middle-income groups in rural areas, enabling them to start business, increase income, and pursue dreams.
cdfinance.com.cn
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For more information, contact:
Samy Derradji, Symbiotics, Corporate Communication Manager
samy.derradji@symbioticsgroup.com
Connie Ng, High Impact Capital Advisors, Finance and Operations Manager
cng@hicadvisors.com
LIQI, CD Finance, Senior Manager of Financing Department
liqi@cdfinance.com.cn
