The government is extending the support mechanisms for businesses. The State does not want to leave viable ones on the side of the road, but very affected by the crisis. After the loans guaranteed by the State (PGE), which will last until June 2022, Bruno Le Maire has decided to extend the program of the participatory loan stimulus (PPR), which was to end in June 2022. Companies will be able to subscribe it until at the end of 2023. The government has tabled amendments to this effect in the 2022 finance bill. The measure will however have to receive the green light from the European Commission.
Launched in the spring, the stimulus participatory loan benefits from a State guarantee and should allow healthy SMEs and mid-size companies (ETIs) to finance investment projects. It has an eight-year lifespan and subscribers don’t start paying it back until the fourth year. But this financial product, which aims to strengthen the balance sheet of companies in order to allow them to take on more debt, has attracted very few companies. It must be said that the PPR, assimilated to quasi-equity, is complex. In addition, in this period of stronger-than-expected recovery, companies have a lot of liquidity: only half of those who have subscribed to an EMP have used it.
To encourage companies to take out a PPR, contracts will be simplified. Banks and investment funds will be made aware of the fact that this loan is not a classic debt, but makes it possible to improve the solvency of companies. “The extension of the PPR is very good news, because this product is strategic and essential to the financing of SMEs,” suggests Germain Simoneau, chairman of the CPME corporate finance committee.
After months of delay, the stimulus bonds, redeemable in fine at 8 years and acting as equity, will see the light of day next week. The device will also be available until the end of 2023. This type of financing could more easily attract mid-size companies and large SMEs.