Pharmacies and women’s entrepreneurship: a dedicated support

Supporting women’s entrepreneurship is not merely a social objective but also involves those who operate within the financial system. Thanks to an agreement with the EIB, Banca Ifis and Banca Credifarma promote gender equality and women’s entrepreneurship with a dedicated credit line. Let’s delve into the topic with Francesco Gadioli, Head of Operations, Monitoring & Workout at Banca Credifarma.

I am the owner of a pharmacy, what are the main financing solutions offered by Banca Credifarma?

Banca Credifarma is committed to assisting pharmacies by providing solutions for prudent financial management while fostering their innovative and profitable growth.

Its offering includes tailored financing solutions for the sector to effectively satisfy and support the pharmacy’s current and structural financial requirements.

Regarding financing solutions with medium to long-term maturities (a minimum duration of 19 months), the options provided by Banca Credifarma are:

Pharma Unsecured Medium-Long Term Loan
Pharma Unsecured Medium-Long Term Loan with MCC Guarantee
Pharma Mortgage/Property Loan

With reference to medium to long-term financing, with a minimum duration of at least 24 months, Banca Credifarma can benefit from the agreement signed by the Parent Company Banca Ifis S.p.A. with the European Investment Bank (EIB), aimed exclusively at the pharmacy sector and intended to support initiatives focused on promoting gender equality and women’s entrepreneurship.

What does the agreement with the EIB entail?

Banca Ifis has entered into an agreement with the European Investment Bank for a loan of 100.000.000,00 Euro intended for pharmacies. Consequently, Banca Ifis, via Banca Credifarma – a company within the Banca Ifis Group specialising in financial services and products tailored to the sector – provides an additional opportunity to support pharmacy initiatives.

Furthermore, this marks the EIB’s first credit line wholly dedicated to the world of Italian pharmacies with a strictly “Social” aim, specifically targeting women’s entrepreneurship within pharmacies.

Would you like to find out more about financing solutions by Banca Credifarma?

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What requirements must my pharmacy fulfill to qualify for loans with EIB funding?

The company is required to have fewer than 250 employees, conduct business in Italy, and possess the licences for the operation of the pharmacy business granted by the competent authority. It must also be active in the sector identified by the NACE code 47.73.

The agreement provides for the allocation of funding to pharmacies that satisfy at least one of the following subjective criteria:

women’s entrepreneurship: the share of capital in the pharmacy directly attributable to a female individual must be at least 51%;
women in senior management: female representation among Directors in general is at least 33%.

In addition, the resources of the funding must be allocated to finance projects promoted by pharmacies, notably including:

purchase of equity shares in an existing pharmacy, provided that the pharmacist is starting a new enterprise for the first time;
purchase / transfer of businesses to employees in the event of the previous owner’s retirement;
financial support for opening a new pharmacy, after allocation via a competition;
purchase of a property to be designated for the business activity “pharmacy”;
costs for the renovation of premises intended for “pharmacy” use;
purchase of new equipment intended for the pharmacy.

The financing for the Project may be assisted by incentive measures, subsidies, or state and regional funding.

Advertising message for promotional purposes. For the contractual conditions of the illustrated product, refer to the information sheets available at our branches and in the Transparency section of the websites www.bancaifis.it and www.bancacredifarma.it.