n June 2003, Fortis Lease Group announced its intention to have a branch of its own in every country in which Fortis Bank has a Business Centre by 2008. With the opening of Fortis Lease Italia in Milan, Fortis Lease Group has met its goal.
The general manager of Fortis Lease Italia will be Mr. Valentino Polli. The new branch's products cover all areas of the leasing business: equipment, real estate, cars and trucks.
Valentino Polli: "We aim to create a niche business for medium-sized companies, satisfying the leasing needs of existing customers and making use of cross-selling opportunities with Fortis Bank."
The commercial front office will be supported by the back office of an Agrileasing subsidiary, TKLeasing. Banca Agrileasing is the leasing company of the Banche di Credito Cooperativo (BCC or cooperative credit banks). Ranked among Italy's top ten leasing companies for over ten years, Agrileasing has 270 employees in a network of 14 branches.
The Italian market has grown rapidly to become Europe's second largest leasing market, after Germany. It generated EUR 37.6 billion of new contract volume in 2002, mostly in real estate leases.
It is Fortis Lease's ambition to be part of the top 5 cross-border leasing companies in terms of net operating profit. Fortis Lease Group as a whole currently ranks sixth among leasing companies with European coverage.
Fortis Lease
Fortis Lease (FL) specialises in leasing investment products such as private cars, company cars, machinery, forklifts, trucks, computers and real estate. It is a leading leasing company in Europe, with activities in eleven countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Hong Kong and Poland. Fortis Lease Group has assets totalling EUR 5 billion.
Fortis
Fortis is an international financial services provider active in the fields of banking and insurance. With a market capitalisation of EUR 22.5 billion (31/03/04) and around 54,000 employees, Fortis ranks in the top 20 of European financial institutions. In its home market, the Benelux countries, Fortis occupies a leading position and offers a broad range of financial services to individuals, companies and the public sector. Outside its home market, Fortis concentrates on selected market segments. Fortis is listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg and has a sponsored ADR programme in the United States. More information is available on www.fortis.com.
Fortis in Italy
In Italy Fortis Bank provides a full range of services to middle market and corporate companies including international cash management, trade finance, export & project finance, international factoring, cross border leasing and forex & derivatives. Fortis Bank has business centres in Milan, Padua, Bologna, Turin and Brescia. In Italy Fortis is also active in private banking & asset management through MeesPierson and Fortis Investments.
