The French operator’s Solid-19 fund will offer support through long-term financing over five to seven years in the form of subordinated bonds.
The iliad Group will issue the subordinated bonds – unsecured loans – to strengthen the SMEs’ equity and cashflow, and help them access credit with banks if necessary.
A first tranche of about €10 million will be available shortly, the company said.
All the funding granted will be provided by Solid-19, a wholly-owned subsidiary of iliad.
The initiative follows the Group’s decision on 20 March to relieve the cash flow of its SME suppliers by paying their invoices without waiting for the legal deadline of 45 days at the end of the month.
Some €90 million has already been released to 700 companies, exceeding the €50 million that had been anticipated.
The company described its SMEs ecosystem, which has been built up over the years by the Group, as “a formidable industrial tool”.
The statement added, “By endeavoring to preserve its production capacities through this initiative, iliad retains the means to achieve its ambition – to continue the deployment of networks in all territories”.