Successful NLII business loan fund continues to grow

Another € 480 million available for Dutch SMEs through institutional investors

Amsterdam/, 8 March 2017 – Dutch investment institution Nederlandse Investeringsinstelling N.V. (NLII) and today announce that the SME corporate lending fund Bedrijfsleningenfonds (BLF), created by NLII with Robeco acting as fund manager, has raised € 480 million in the second funding round, bringing the fund total to € 960 million. This will make extra funding from institutional investors available to larger Dutch SMEs. An amount of € 195 million has already been lent to Dutch SMEs since the fund was established.

The parties participating in this second round of funding are NN Group, Pensioenfonds Metaal & Techniek (PMT), Pensioenfonds van de Metalektro (PME), a.s.r. and the European Investment Fund (EIF). Most of these parties also participated in the first funding round.

NLII CEO Loek Sibbing: “The success of the BLF is clearly highlighted by this second round of funding. Our objective is to enable institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers to invest directly in the Dutch economy and that is exactly what the BLF offers investors. The fund has already enabled a number of Dutch companies to continue to grow. Expanding the fund increases the lending opportunities for SMEs significantly.”

Robeco BLF fund manager Erik Hylarides: “The BLF was established to bring about a change in the funding landscape by offering companies access to multiple sources of finance. The current expansion of the fund and the pipeline of transactions we are working on prove that this has been a success. All parties are extremely positive about this new type of financing. The panel of we work with has now been expanded and we have been able to achieve attractive returns for investors with excellent prospects.”

Institutional investors lend directly to SMEs The BLF and banks work together to finance larger Dutch SMEs. They do so by providing loans to companies under standard conditions. By structuring the financing needs of SMEs in funds, the combined size meets the minimum investment needs of institutional investors. This enables companies to benefit from additional funding possibilities and gives institutional investors the chance to invest directly in the Dutch economy.

Lending already at € 195 million The initial size of the BLF was € 480 million, of which an amount of € 195 million has already been lent to Dutch SMEs. These loans are provided to companies in various sectors in the Dutch economy (including agricultural businesses, manufacturers of foodstuffs, leisure companies). The companies often use the funds to grow their business, for example by acquiring related activities or investing in expansion.

Good returns Investors are satisfied with the returns on the fund and there was a great deal of interest from investors to participate. This, combined with demand from Dutch SMEs for this type of funding, prompted the decision to take advantage of the opportunity to let the fund continue to grow. Five institutional investors have committed to a total amount of € 480 million, increasing the size of the fund to € 960 million. The participating investors will receive interest on their investments in the fund at market rates.

Loans provided throughout the by the BLF will be arranged via ABN AMRO, ING, and Deutsche . Companies that want to apply for BLF funding can approach these banks.

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For more information:

NLII Robeco Floor van Maaren Robeco Corporate Communications + 31 (0) 6 2959 7746 +31 (0) 10 224 2241 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] www.nlii.nl www.robeco.com

About the Business Loans Fund (BLF) - www.nlii.nl/fondsen/mkb-blf

Business loan fund (Bedrijfsleningenfonds or BLF)

The BLF participates in loans with standard conditions that banks wish to provide to healthy companies with solid business plans, but which they cannot provide due to factors such as overexposure to the company or to the sector in which the company is active. Because the fund provides part of the capital, the bank has more room to provide any additional funding to these companies. Loans provided under the BLF are subject to the following conditions:

 The fund’s share in the loan is between EUR 5,000,000 and EUR 25,000,000.

 The bank issues a loan on the same terms for at least the same amount. The BLF loan may not be subordinate to the financing provided by the banks.

 The total size of the loan to be issued (i.e. of both the bank and BLF component) is therefore at least EUR 10,000,000.  Multiple banks may participate in larger transactions.

 Robeco acts as BLF fund manager and assesses and analyses all investments.

About Nederlandse Investeringsinstelling N.V.

Dutch investment institution Nederlandse Investeringsinstelling N.V. was established to enable institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers to invest directly in the Dutch economy. The Dutch economy can benefit from a wider range of financing sources. Institutional investors can play an important role in addressing this need. Requests for individual financing are often too small and fragmented to qualify as investments for institutional investors. NLII cooperates with the stakeholders involved to develop investments that meet the requirements of these investors. NLII focuses on the following areas: SME corporate lending, healthcare, energy transition, residential housing, and schools. For more information about these themes and the NLII funds: www.nlii.nl

About Robeco

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. (Robeco) is a global asset manager, headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Robeco offers a mix of investment solutions within a broad range of strategies to institutional and private investors worldwide. As at 31 December 2016, Robeco had EUR 137 billion in assets under management. Founded in the Netherlands in 1929 as ‘Rotterdamsch Beleggings Consortium’, Robeco is a subsidiary of Robeco Group. As at 31 December 2016, Robeco Group had EUR 281 billion in assets under management, 49% of which were institutional. In 2015 Robeco Group generated a net profit of EUR 237 million. More information is available at www.robeco.com.