(AGENPARL) – mar 27 settembre 2022 OFFICIAL USE
EBRD press release
EBRD extends new financing to Serbian HTEC Group
€55 million loan to support further growth and regional expansion
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
http://www.ebrd.com/
http://www.ebrd.com/news
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Date: 27/09/2022
Contact: Bojana Vlajcic
Twitter:[@ebrd](https://twitter.com/EBRD)
Translation: Serbian
EBRD Director Dirk Werner (left) and CFO of HTEC, Miroslav Virijevic? (right)
– €55 million EBRD loan to support HTEC’s further expansion in Europe
– HTEC will use the funds for new acquisitions and investments
– The second EBRD loan to one of the fastest-growing IT companies in Europe
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is stepping up support for the Serbian information technology (IT) industry by backing [HTEC Group](https://htecgroup.com/) (HTEC), a [Serbia](https://www.ebrd.com/where-we-are/serbia/overview.html)-founded and [United States of America](https://www.ebrd.com/pages/about/workwith/donors/countries/usa.shtml)-based engineering services and digital product development company.
A €55 million loan will support HTEC’s further expansion and internationalisation of operations through strategic acquisitions. The company will also invest in strengthening its services and expertise across all domains, including in FinTech. The move follows the acquisitions that took place in recent years, which the EBRD also supported, and which enabled HTEC to grow from 250 to more than 2,000 professionals.
Dirk Werner, EBRD Director, Telecommunications, Media and Technology, said: “We are excited to partner again with HTEC, a company that we recognised and supported when it was still at the beginning of its expansion phase. The EBRD helps local companies to become regional champions and we are extremely pleased that our support has helped HTEC to grow and become one of the leading IT firms in the region and a global player in the engineering services sector.”
The loan is the biggest EBRD financing to an IT sector company in the Western Balkans to date and is in line with the bank’s strategy to promote the growth of the technology sector and digitalisation in the region.
HTEC was founded in Serbia in 2008 and has grown into a global engineering services and digital product development company, with its headquarters in San Francisco, United States of America, with an expanding network of development centres across south-eastern Europe. It provides services to a number of international clients, ranging from blue chip companies to high-tech scale-ups in sectors such as retail, healthcare, transport, and logistics.
Miroslav Virijevic?, CFO of HTEC, said: “Our partnership with the EBRD for the past two years has helped us to implement our expansion strategy in the region. We are now present in 29 locations across seven countries with the aim of being the best company for the career development of engineering and other talents in this region. We are driven by the goal of solving the toughest engineering problems for our clients, thereby engaging our people in building globally competitive careers in this part of the world.”
The EBRD and HTEC first partnered in 2020 when the Bank extended a loan, co-financed by the Enterprise Expansion Fund (ENEF), to support HTEC’s acquisition of the Serbian IT company Execom.
The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. The Bank has invested more than €7.5 billion in the country to date. Its focus in Serbia is on private-sector development, improving public utilities, and facilitating the country’s transition to a green economy.
EBRD finansira ulaganja HTEC grupe
Kredit od 55 miliona evra za podršku daljem rastu i regionalnoj ekspanziji jedne od najvec?ih tehnoloških kompanija u jugoisto?noj Evropi
·EBRD kredit od 55 miliona evra za podršku daljem širenju poslovanja HTEC-a u Evropi
·HTEC c?e sredstva koristiti za nove akvizicije i investicije
·Drugi kredit EBRD-a jednoj od najbrže rastuc?ih IT kompanija u Evropi
Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj (EBRD) podržava razvoj srpske IT industrije finansiranjem HTEC Grupe, srpske kompanije sa sedištem u SAD, koja je specijalizovana za softversko inženjerstvo i razvoj digitalnih proizvoda.
Kredit od 55 miliona evra pomo?i ?e kompaniji HTEC Group u daljem širenju i internacionalizaciji poslovanja putem strateških akvizicija. Kompanija c?e tako?e investirati u ja?anje svojih usluga i ekspertize u svim domenima, uklju?uju?i i fintek. Ovaj potez je usledio nakon nekoliko prethodnih akvizicija, koje je i tada podržala EBRD, a koje su omogu?ile HTEC Grupi da naraste sa 250 na kompaniju od više od 2000 zaposlenih.
Dirk Verner, direktor EBRD-a za telekomunikacije, medije i tehnologiju, izjavio je: „Zadovoljstvo nam je što ponovo sara?ujemo sa HTEC Grupom, kompanijom koju smo prepoznali i podržali kada je još bila na po?etku svoje faze širenja poslovanja. EBRD pomaže lokalnim kompanijama da postanu regionalni lideri i izuzetno smo zadovoljni što je naša podrška pomogla HTEC-u da proširi svoje poslovanje i postane jedna od vodec?ih IT kompanija u regionu i globalni igra? u sektoru inženjerskih usluga”.
Ovaj investicija predstavlja i do sada najvec?e finansiranje EBRD-a u IT sektoru u državama u regionu Zapadnog Balkana, i u skladu je sa strategijom banke da promoviše rast tehnološkog sektora i digitalizaciju u regionu.
HTEC Grupa osnovana je u Srbiji 2008. godine i od tada je izrasla u globalnu kompaniju za inženjering i razvoj digitalnih proizvoda sa sedištem u San Francisku i sa rastuc?om mrežom razvojnih centara širom jugoisto?ne Evrope. Kompanija se bavi pružanjem usluga brojnim me?unarodnim klijentima u rasponu od „blue ?ip“ kompanija do visokotehnoloških rastu?ih (skejlap) kompanija u sektorima kao što su maloprodaja, zdravstvo, transport i logistika.
Miroslav Virijevic?, finansijski direktor HTEC Grupe, izjavio je: „Naše partnerstvo sa EBRD-om tokom poslednje dve godine pomoglo nam je da implementiramo našu strategiju širenja u regionu. Sada smo prisutni na 29 lokacija u sedam zemalja sa ciljem da postanemo najbolja kompanija za razvoj karijera u oblasti softverskog inženjeringa, kao i drugih oblasti, u ovom regionu. Vo?eni smo ciljem da rešavamo najkompleksnije inženjerske probleme za naše klijente i da kreiramo globalno konkurentne poslove za talente u ovom delu sveta.”
EBRD i HTEC Grupa prvi put su se udružile 2020. godine kada je banka odobrila kredit, uz ko-finansiranje fonda Enterprise Expansion Fund (ENEF), za podršku HTEC-ovoj akviziciji srpske IT kompanije Execom.
EBRD je vodec?i institucionalni investitor u Srbiji. Banka je do danas uložila više od 7,5 milijardi evra u zemlju. Njen fokus u Srbiji je na razvoju privatnog sektora, unapre?enju javne infrastrukture i olakšavanju tranzicije zemlje ka zelenoj ekonomiji.