Spain has a new fund to support foreign investment in the country. The state-owned trading company COFIDES has been appointed to manage this new financial instrument, which forms part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

According to the chairman and CEO of COFIDES, José Luis Curbelo, the main objective of the new co-investment fund (Foco) is to “contribute to the transformation of the Spanish production model by attracting foreign investment in Spanish companies that do in turn invest in activities aligned with the objectives of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), such as the energy transition, digital transformation, sustainable mobility, biotechnology and sustainable agriculture”.

Co-investment agreements
The fund has been endowed with 2 billion euros and will be valid for an indefinite period. Curbelo said that with this money, “Foco will invest in the capital of companies established in Spain through co-investment agreements with different types of foreign investors”.

COFIDES General Manager Miguel Tiana focused on the characteristics of this new instrument and the requirements associated with it, “Foco investments will always be made under a co-investment agreement with foreign investors. These may be either public financial institutions (such as sovereign wealth funds or public pension funds) or private investors (investment funds, pension funds, insurance companies, non-financial corporations, etc.) and will primarily take the form of minority stakes in the capital of the companies invested in”.

In Tiana's opinion, the new fund “will help to attract foreign investment in productive sectors that strengthen the sustainable and inclusive growth of the Spanish economy, increase Spain's social and economic resilience and promote its ecological and digital transformation”.

^{Photo: Cofides}