European Financing Partners

Jan Otto serves as Chief Executive Officer of EFP, managing the Luxembourg-based vehicle. Investment committee decisions flow through a board-level structure comprising representatives from the European Investment Bank and the consortium of European development finance institutions, including BIO, FMO, DEG, and Swedfund. The dual-shareholder governance ensures EIB senior facility approvals remain aligned with DFI equity mandates.

EFP operates exclusively as a fund-of-funds, committing senior EIB debt and DFI subordinated equity into pooled private equity, mezzanine, and infrastructure funds. It does not make direct co-investments or acquire direct stakes in portfolio companies, distinguishing it from direct-investment DFIs like the IFC or CDC Group.

EFP is a contractual joint venture structured under EIB's ACP Investment Facility mandate. The EIB commits the senior debt tranche for each underlying fund investment, while European DFIs provide the junior equity component. The vehicle operates independently in Luxembourg but draws its legal and operational framework from the Cotonou Agreement and successor EU-ACP treaty arrangements.

The structure layers EIB senior debt into a private equity fund alongside subordinated equity from European DFIs. This blended-capital model reduces the cost of capital at the fund level and improves risk-adjusted returns for the DFI equity participants, while meeting EIB's additionality and catalytic-capital requirements under its treaty mandate.