Unusual negotiation: company offered 125 thousand Grana Padano pieces as guarantee
An unusual deal took place in Italy this week. The Italian company Ambrosi, cheese producer Grana Padano e Parmesan Cheese, seduced the German bank Deutsche Bank granting a loan of 27,5 million euros, around 180 million reais, with an unusual guarantee: nothing more than 125 thousand pieces of parmesan.
The amount borrowed will be used for “build a new fermentation cellar for cheese production“, as the bank explained to the French newspaper “Courrier International".
Despite the eccentric agreement, the bank does not take many risks, as the pieces declared as collateral have an estimated market value of between 550 and 740 euros.
However, it is difficult to imagine extending the system to other products, such as raw ham.
Market guarantee
The good thing about Parmesan is that it is a “relatively standardized and long-lasting food” and easier to sell if the worst happens.
O Deutsche Bank took advantage of the agreement to reaffirm its position as the largest foreign bank in Italy: “Above all, during the current pandemic crisis, we want to help our customers protect and grow their businesses.”
Unprecedented for Germans, financial agreements using guaranteed cheese are nothing new in Italy.
The regional bank Credit Emiliano has consented to the practice since 1953, this financial strategy has even been transformed into a case study by Harvard Business School in an article titled: “Banking on cheese".
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