January 26 (SeeNews) - French aviation systems manufacturer Latecoere intends to use part of the proceeds of a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance the construction of an assembly plant in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second largest city, the lender says.
Latecoere has signed a deal with the EIB for a 55 million euro ($68.5 million) loan in December, EIB says on its website.
Alongside the construction of a plant in Plovdiv, the proceeds of the EIB loan will be used to partially finance the construction of a new advanced manufacturing plant in Toulouse, France and cover Latecoere's research, development and innovation (RDI) expenditures for the period 2017-2020.
The total estimated cost of the three components of the project is 110 million euro.
In September 2017, Latecoere broke ground for its plant in Plovdiv. The investment in the first stage of construction works is estimated at around 11 million euro and is expected to create 200 jobs, Latecoere said at the time.
The Latecoere Group works in the fields of aerostructures, wiring, embedded systems and engineering services. Its main customers are Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Dassault and Embraer.
($ = 0.8025 euro)