HPP advised the EIB on the Finnish aspects of a EUR 8 million facility to NewIcon for its development and innovation activities in the field of medicine logistics. The company’s new automation solutions will facilitate the work of nursing staff at each stage of the medicine supply process in pharmacies and hospital wards. This transaction is supported by the new generation of financial instruments for innovative growth companies “InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators”, with the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2020. “InnovFin MidCap Growth Finance” is specifically dedicated to improving access to risk finance for the research and innovation projects of midcaps and SMEs.
The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals. In 2015 the EIB fostered projects in Finland with loans totalling EUR 1.62bn – this is an all-time record high EIB commitment in Finland.
NewIcon Oy is a health technology company, founded in 2007 by the current CEO Ossi Parviainen, and located in Kuopio. NewIcon is the market leader in pharmacy storage automation in Finland. The company’s roots go back to industrial automation, where Newicon is a well-known supplier in extensive projects for large industrial players. In recent years, NewIcon has honed its skills to become a professional in automation solutions for medicine suppliers and has already delivered systems to more than sixty pharmacies and hospital pharmacies. Deliveries have already been made to several other countries.
The HPP team was led by partner Björn Nykvist with associate Sini Paajanen as the key member. Norton Rose Fulbright LLP acted as the lead external counsel in the matter when assisting EIB’s Legal Directorate.
More information about the transaction can be found in EIB’s press release.
