How it works

SME guarantee got the wheels spinning in Norway

The Danish company Böll-Tec nearly lost an order for custom-made equipment for a customer in Norway when a leasing company refused to finance the equipment. An SME guarantee from EKF secured the order worth DKK 2.5 million.

Case facts

What: Böll-Tech manufactures systems for handling and treatment of wood products
How much: An order worth DKK 2.5 million for a Norwegian customer
EKF's role: EKF offered Böll-Tech´s bank a 100 per cent guarantee to cover the payment from the customer in Norway

EKF product: SME guarantee
When: 2011-2016

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The challenge

The SME guarantee from EKF offers entirely new perspectives for our export. The fact that we can help our customers obtain a financing solution is a persuasive argument which we will use actively
Tommy Christiansen, CEO, Böll-Tec

The Danish company Böll-Tec supplies automation equipment to companies who manufacture wood products. In 2011, a Norwegian company ordered a system for handling and treatment of wood panels as the company planned to move the production from Poland to Norway to lower their production costs.

However, the Norwegian company´s leasing company refused to finance the system, because it was custom-made for this particular purpose and could not be transferred to others in case the leasing company should take over. The Norwegian customer informed Böll-Tec about the problems with the financing.

“So far our Norwegian customer has financed its purchase of equipment from Böll-Tec through leasing. When this turned out to be impossible, we ran the risk of losing the order which was of vital importance to us and our employees”, says Tommy Christiansen, CEO at Böll-Tec.
The process

A business partner told Tommy Christiansen that EKF could help to finance export transactions.

“I contacted EKF who recommended an SME guarantee. This meant that our Norwegian company could obtain a 5-year credit while we would receive payment for the order immediately from our bank, Sydbank, says Tommy Christiansen.

Sydbank applied for an SME guarantee from EKF. The SME guarantee covers 100 per cent of the bank’s risk related to the Norwegian customer´s credit.
The solution

With the SME guarantee from EKF Böll-Tec could deliver the equipment to the Norwegian customer worth DKK 2.5 million.

“It took a lot of dedication on our part to complete the export transaction using an SME guarantee instead of the usual financing through a leasing company. But the most important thing was that we won the order, held on to the customer and secured the jobs of our employees”, says Tommy Christiansen.

He will gladly recommend EKF´s guarantees to others.

“This is a really good solution in situations where it is difficult to secure financing to purchase goods from Danish companies. In our case we only won the order because EKF could help us find a financing solution”, says Tommy Christiansen, CEO at Böll-Tec.