Fund Manager Confirmed
Scottish Government has confirmed that the contract for the fund manager of the new £50m JESSICA investment fund has been awarded to the consortium led by Amber Infrastructure Ltd.
The fund is part of the Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA). Scottish Ministers signed a Funding Agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in June 2010 to establish a £50m JESSICA Holding Fund in Scotland. The fund was capitalised with £24m from ERDF Priority 3, matched by £26m from the Scottish Government.
The £50 million investment fund will support a range of regeneration projects offering loans and equity investment to revenue generating projects in 13 local authority areas in Scotland. These areas being an eligibility criteria of ERDF Priority 3.
The new fund has now been formally launched, read full press release here
Road Shows events are planned on the new fund commencing in the new year.
Check back to this page for further details of road show events in the new year.
You can also visit the SPRUCE website which is now live.
Benefits of JESSICA
The fund has the potential to lever in additional sources of public and private investment; and to create a sustainable fund to support regeneration activity in Scotland well into the future.
The underlying principle is to use ERDF to invest in projects with the expectation of a return on the investment, rather than following the traditional grant approach that allocates ERDF funding with no expectation of repayment.
JESSICA allows us to invest ERDF and Scottish Government cash - in the form of equity, loans and / or guarantees - in a way that creates a commercial return. This return can then be re-invested into new urban development projects that will create further cash for new projects. An evergreen fund of this type would leave a lasting legacy to support regeneration and economic development throughout Scotland beyond the end of the current Structural Funds programme in 2013.
JESSICA can be applied to projects in the 13 local authority areas currently eligible for ERDF support (Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian).
JESSICA Investment Board
The Scottish Government has announced the composition of the JESSICA Investment Board, which will work alongside the European Investment Bank (EIB) to determine how the £50 million regeneration investment fund should be invested.
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