Minibonds, a recovering 2024 but slowing SME demand

After the setback of 2023, which halted years of growth, in 2024 the Italian minibond industry (issues below EUR 50 million, issued by non-financial companies) recorded a recovery, particularly in terms of funding volumes. These issues represent an alternative and complementary form of financing to bank credit in order to diversify sources and access the competitive market of professional investors, mostly in preparation for subsequent more complex transactions such as private equity or listing on the stock exchange.

Analysis of the data suggests that 2025 may mark a further slight advance, in the absence of negative surprises from the macroeconomic scenario. 2024 contributed 1.515 billion to the total nominal value of 12.56 billion issued by the 1,339 companies since 2013. This is the sample surveyed by the Minibond Observatory of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano, which confirms an annual increase of 32%, due, however, exclusively to large companies.

Capital relating to SMEs alone amounted to 686 million, down on 2023. There were 208 issues of debt securities of less than EUR 50 million in 2024 compared to 188 in 2023 (out of a total of 1,977 since 2013), with an amount of less than EUR 2 million in 26% of the cases. The 2024 sample included 20 green, 3 social and 19 sustainability-linked minibonds, with a countervalue of 233.70 million (15% market share). The Observatory identified 178 issuers of minibonds in 2024 (126 on the market for the first time), up slightly from 168 in 2023, of which 105 are SMEs. These are 64% SpAs (up from 2023) and 33.2% Srls (down), plus 3 cooperatives and 2 foreign vehicles of Italian groups. There are 15 issuers listed on the stock exchange (in 11 cases on Euronext Growth Milan). As far as business sector is concerned, manufacturing remains in the lead (24.7%), albeit down from 2023, followed by financial holding companies (13.1%) and commerce (12.5%).

"Faced with the uncertainties that characterise the macro scenario, the issue of supporting access to capital for SMEs is more topical than ever," explains Giancarlo Giudici, head of the Observatory and compiler of the Minibond 2025 Report. Minibonds are a tool that in recent years has allowed Italian companies to access new capital and acquire valuable skills to establish relationships with investors - but it is a market that can multiply its volumes, reaching new issuers and intercepting more capital, only with the intermediation of specialised professional investors'. According to Giudici, every year new companies enter the market, thanks above all to the contribution of programmes supported by public guarantees and system operations such as basket bonds, on the other hand there are braking factors that still limit the depth of the market, such as direct issue costs. Another aspect to be worked on is the growth in the number of independent arrangers, with widespread roots throughout the country: while in the North the number is fairly widespread, there are entire provinces where minibonds remain a practically absent option.

The Observatory's database now counts 1,977 minibond issues made since 2013 by companies, which in many cases have conducted more than one operation, for a total nominal value of EUR 12.56 billion, EUR 5.45 billion if we restrict ourselves to SMEs. Geographically, Lombardy is still in the lead (71 issuers, equal to 39.9%) followed by Lazio (23, equal to 12.9%) and Veneto (20, equal to 11.2%), which confirms its place on the podium. This is followed by Emilia-Romagna and Campania (15), which took second place in 2023.