Changes
during and after the project
Instructions on how to apply for a change in the project
Even in a well-planned project, the person in charge may change, the project may need more time or the budget may change. The company implementing the project may require various restructuring arrangements, such as a merger with another company. You can seek a change in the terms of the loan granted by Business Finland if you cannot utilize the results of the project according to its set objectives. For most changes, you will need Business Finland's prior approval, but in some cases, you can just submit a notification.
See the instruction for the different situations
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Apply for a change in the online service when your project changes
- schedule
- cost estimate
- funding plan
- project plan
- project terms and conditions
- accountable leader (until 15.10.2021; after that: read instruction in section Contact persons)
Complete the change application in the online service on the "Changes" tab. You can select more than one change for the same application. Under "Other changes", you can indicate, for example, a change of the decision's event condition, a suspension of the project or a change in the public research steering group.
The change application can be submitted by the accountable project leader or a person with the right of exclusive representation entered into the Trade Register, or separately notified to Business Finland.
If, due to the change, there is currently no person in the company who could submit the application through the online service, use a form.
Send the form to the Business Finland record office
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Make the change in the online service
Our online service will change October 15; after that you can follow these instruction:
If the project's accountable leader, contact person or the contact person for the cost statement changes, you can make the change in the online service. Only the project's accountable leader and the persons authorized to sign on behalf of the organization have the right to make changes in the online service.
Make the change in the project's Changes tab. The change in the contact person or contact person for the cost statement will become effective immediately after sending the change request. The change in the accountable leader will become effective after Business Finland has processed the matter. We will notify persons in charge of the project of this.
Please make sure that all the persons in charge of the project have access rights to the project.
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Use secure email to inform a new bank account number
If the bank account, into which the payments of the project funding have been paid, changes, send the new bank account number using the template Y1. Send a signed copy of the template to Business Finland's record office by secure email. The template requires the official signature of the organization.
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Apply for an amendment to the loan terms using a free form application
Business Finland loans are usually unsecured loans. If the project is at risk of failure or the utilization of its results is considerably delayed, you may apply for an amendment to the loan terms. In the first instance, the loan period will be extended.
For especially weighty reasons, the loan period may be extended to at most 20 years and grace period to at most 10 years. The loan period and grace period may be extended by at most 3 years at a time. When the grace period is extended for less than the loan period, the repayment period increases and the annual instalment decreases. The loan period may be extended to permit the company to defer repayment of the loan until the project's technological and commercial success can be determined with more reliability.
If the financial utilization of the project or its results fails, the remaining principal and interest may in exceptional cases be waived in part or in full. Repayment may be waived up to the maximum amount of funding specified for the project. The estimated maximum amount of funding is stated in the funding decision. Repayment of the loan principal may not be waived for Young Innovative Companies funding decisions made before 15 February 2018.
The loan period cannot be extended nor repayment waived solely because the project's intended impacts, as declared by the company during the application phase and indicated in the funding decision, fail to materialize or because the company is in a poor financial situation.
Amendments to loan terms are not permitted, if- the company has negative equity and the loss of equity has not been reported to the Trade Register
- the company has not repaid a loan due for payment *)
- the company has outstanding tax debts, for which it has not made or adhered to a payment plan
- the company has statutory pension or insurance contributions that are outstanding or subject to enforcement measures
- the company is unable to conduct continuous or profitable business
*) For financial reasons, the Treasury no longer issues payment plans for overdue items, but they must be paid in full on the due date of the reminder or request for payment. Business Finland can only make a decision on the application when the installments and interest due before the appeal application have been paid in full.
Repayment of the loan may not be waived, if
- the company is unable to repay any nominal remaining capital
- it is too early to assess whether the project is a financial failure. Despite this, the loan period may be extended
- the company has not decided to stop using the results of the project (the developed product is still being marketed, for instance), or the company has not waived its industrial property rights on the results developed in a project funded by Tekes/Business Finland
How to apply for an extension of the loan period or a waiver of repayment
Please submit a free-form application and necessary appendices to Business Finland's record office.
Loan extension or repayment waiver: Appendices to the application
- a recent (up to 2 months old) accounts ledger, income statement and balance sheet, cumulative from the start of the fiscal year, long version
- a monthly cash flow forecast for the next 12 months from the accounts ledger
- in the case of negative equity, a plan by the company's board of directors to correct the situation
- copies of the past two financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, attachments, annual report and signature pages), audit reports
- If the financial statements and their appendices have been submitted to the Finnish Patent and Registration Office, they need not be separately provided.
- list of shareholders
- in repayment waiver applications, a calculation of the business life-cycle of the product/service developed in the project
- mandatory form concerning sanctions and counter-terrorism
Extending of the loan period: What to include in the application
- Indicate clearly how much you want to extend the loan period. Mention separately the length of the extension you are seeking (1 to 3 years) an the length of the grace period you are seeking (0 to 3 years).
- Describe the results of the project: how have the results developed since the project ended, what has the performance on the market been, what factors have affected the success?
- Describe the current situation of the business: what are the company's lines of business, how do the project's results affect the company's current situation and financial situation, how do the company's other lines of business affect its current situation and financial situation?
- Explain the reasons for the application carefully, describing why the loan amendment is necessary.
Waiver of repayment: What to include in the application
Answer the following questions in your application. On the basis of the application, Business Finland will assess whether it can waive the loan repayment or extend the loan period. If necessary, Business Finland will ask for more information.
Basic project information
- The funding decision's record number
- Project name
Current situation of the company
- Describe the current situation of the company: is the company still in business or has it ceased its operations in practice?
- What are the main strategic outlines, what are the company’s markets, what services/products does the company market, sell, manufacture and deliver to its customers, and what resources does it use?
- How are the company’s ongoing business activities related to the business that is subject to the waiver of loan repayment? Do these lines of business have any markets, productions, clients, resources, skills or IPRs in common?
- What IPRs do the ongoing business activities utilize and in which projects have they been developed?
- What are the growth prospects of the ongoing business? What will the turnover, exports and personnel of the company be in 3 to 5 years?
- What are the financing needs of the ongoing business activities?
Realization of the project
- In what way has the project failed?
- What reasons led to the project's failure (e.g. a delay, inadequate funding, unexpected technical obstacles, lack of skilled personnel, rapid development of a competing technology, etc.)?
- Provide a calculation on the annual breakdown of the turnover, itemizing everything from expenditure to profits, generated by the business or product/products resulting from the project. The calculation should also take account of the costs associated with the development of the business/product. (example calculation (in Finnish))
- How many items or units of the product have been delivered?
- To whom was the product delivered? Mention key customers / amounts sold in euros.
- What quantities of the product/service would you have required to sell at the defined price in order to make the project profitable?
Marketing of the product/business
- Will you continue to market the product/business?
- How has the business/product been marketed (distribution channels, dealers, agents)?
- Have there been any marketing problems? If yes, please specify.
Competitive situation
- Is the product/business technically and economically competitive?
- Are there competing products on the market that are significantly more competitive?
- What are these more competitive products and what is the basis of their competitive advantage?
Business resulting from the project
- Will you or someone else make future use of the results of the project? Is the product in your company's own use?
- Do you in some way intend to continue with the R&D work related to the project?
- Has your company obtained overall expertise, which it can use in its operations, from the project?
- Does the project involve any patents or other intellectual property rights, and who has ownership of them?
- Have the intellectual property rights or product rights related to the project been sold or handed over to a third party?
- Has the sale of IPR or product rights related to the project been settled?
- Where will the product be used (company, contact person, address, telephone number)?
- Who, in addition to the staff of your company, can Business Finland contact to discuss the project?
- Have negotiations been held with other funders on the rearrangement of loans taken out by the company?
- Have any plans been made or negotiations been held on the sale of the company or the business related to the project?
Send your application to Business Finland's record office
Amendments to the loan period must be made before loan installments fall due
Amendments to the loan period must be made before loan installments fall due. Before submitting an amendment application, a payment plan for due loan installments must be negotiated with the State Treasury.
If the loan or interest fall due for payment while the application for a loan amendment is being handled, the State Treasury will send the customer an invoice for these. However, due payments will not be referred for debt recovery before Business Finland makes a decision on the loan amendment. Business Finland will inform the State Treasury that a loan amendment application has been submitted.
It is recommended that the interest due is paid to avoid incurring interest for late payment.
The practical arrangements for loans granted by Business Finland are responsibility of the State Treasury. If you have questions about the State Treasury's bond, please contact Treasury's Research and Development Loans Customer Service (contact information at the end of the page).
Amendments to the loan terms and conditions are regulated by Government Decree 1444/2014.
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Obtain Business Finland’s prior approval or give prior notice if your company
- sells, pledges or otherwise entirely or partially transfers the holding of a business resulting from the project
- sells, pledges or otherwise transfers the holding of intellectual or other rights resulting from the project (approval is not necessary if licensing use rights is an integral part of the business activities originally pursued in the project)
- transfers its business abroad or
- carries out other significant business changes or restructuring operations (such as selling the majority shareholding, a merger, a division or a significant staff reduction) that affect the activities financed by Business Finland.
and the measures will take place
- during the project
- in the case of a grant project, within five years from paying the last installment
- in the case of a loan project, before the entire loan has been repaid.
You will need Business Finland’s approval beforehand when the above mentioned measure
- takes place during the project
- is executed outside the European Single Market or
- jeopardizes the desired impacts of the project or
- impairs the company’s ability to repay the loan
Business Finland can approve the move if the desired impacts set for the project in the funding decision can be achieved in all material respects and it can ensure the company’s ability to repay the loan despite the changes. Business Finland can recover any funding already paid if the company has not sought approval in accordance with the financing conditions.
During the restructuring, the same business ID must retain
- the ownership of the project and the funding decision
- the industrial property rights existing at the time of applying for the funding that have been a prerequisite for securing the funding and are necessary in the funded business
- the business developed in the project and its resources
- the industrial property rights developed in the project
- the loan granted for the project and the related obligations.
Different kinds of restructuring arrangements
Merger and division- The assets and liabilities of the company being acquired are transferred to the acquiring company after the enforcement of the merger has been registered. At the same time, the company being acquired is dissolved. Afterwards, the acquiring company will bear, among other things, the liabilities of the acquired company. The enforcement of the merger requires permission from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH), and PRH will register the merger.
- A limited company can be divided into two or more limited companies so that all the assets and liabilities of the company are transferred to the acquiring companies. At the same time, the company being divided is dissolved. According to the Limited Liability Companies Act, a company can also be divided so that a part of its assets and liabilities are transferred to one or more companies and the divided company itself will continue its operations.
Suomen Asiakastieto will notify us of mergers and divisions automatically. We will contact you if we need more information to process the matter. Business Finland must approve the restructuring so that the State Treasury can transfer the loan to the acquiring company. The projects and loans related to the transferred business activities will be transferred to the Finnish company that is continuing the business.
Ownership arrangement- In an ownership arrangement, a Finnish or non-Finnish company acquires the majority shareholding of a company that has received Business Finland's funding or the control of the company is transferred through a contract or various types of shares.
The company must obtain Business Finland’s written approval for the ownership arrangement if the arrangement might impair the company’s ability to repay its loan. The company will also need an approval if less than five years has passed since the payment of the final funding installment and the control of the company is transferred outside the European Single Market or the desired impacts of the project are jeopardized.
How to proceed?
You will need Business Finland’s prior approval when a change in the company’s majority shareholding or control is taking place. Carefully fill out the form A change in the company. Describe as clearly as possible the arrangement, its reasons and its consequences on the business and the revenue model of the company that has received the funding.
Send the template to Business Finland's record office
If the arrangement will take between two Finnish parties or two parties registered in the European Single Market and the business will continue unchanged, a written notice is sufficient.
When selling minority shares, you do not need to notify Business Finland if the company’s enterprise size class as defined by the EU remains unchanged. The ownership arrangement may affect the size class when the ownership of one party reaches 25 percent or more.
Asset deal- In an asset deal, the company entirely or partially sells the business resulting from the project funded by Business Finland. An asset deal is a type of corporate acquisition where the traded items are company-owned assets instead of stock shares or partnership interests, and the seller is therefore the company itself.
- In an asset deal, the business can be transferred to the buyer entirely or partially. The essential questions are whether the arrangement takes place inside or outside the European Single Market and how the desired impacts of the funding will be achieved.
When another Finnish company acquires the business entirely or partially, it is possible to transfer all the funding decisions or some of them to the acquiring company. Subordinated loans can be transferred only if the conditions of the Limited Liability Companies Act are met.
To transfer any decisions, both the donor and the acquiring company must sign a written application for the transfer of a funding decision. As a rule, Business Finland requires that the funding decisions and the related loans are owned by the company conducting the business. Read more from Transferring a decision. (linkki bookmarkiin)
How to proceed?
You will need Business Finland’s prior approval when you are planning to entirely or partially sell the business resulting from the project to another company. Carefully fill out the form A change in the company. Describe as clearly as possible the arrangement, its reasons and its consequences on the business, and the revenue model of the company that has received the funding.
Send the template to Business Finland's record office
If the arrangement will take between two Finnish parties or two parties registered in the European Single Market and the business will continue unchanged, a written notice is sufficient.
Transferring a funding decision
When the restructuring arrangement has been confirmed and the original recipient of the funding has received Business Finland’s decision, the parties can seek to transfer the funding decision.
Before Business Finland can transfer the funding decision to another company, the transferring company must submit a report of the project’s situation and the costs incurred during its implementation. Please submit the report in the online service as soon as you receive confirmation of the potential transfer of the funding decision. Attach to the report an auditor’s report or an assurance written by the contact person for the cost statement regarding the costs that the project has incurred to the transferring company.
File the application for the transfer of a decision using the form offered by Business Finland. Describe as clearly as possible the arrangement, its reasons and its consequences on the business, and the revenue model of the company that has received the funding. If less than five years has passed since the payment of the project’s final funding installment or the loan granted for the project is not fully repaid, please also submit an explanation of how the company is going to ensure the desired impacts of the funding.
Send the completed application with the signatures of both the donor and the acquiring company to Business Finland’s record office by secure mail.
Send the template to Business Finland's record office
Business Finland will assess the potential recipient company in the same way as when seeking new funding. If there are no obstacles to transferring the funding decision, Business Finland will transfer the related funding decisions to the acquiring company. To transfer the projects, the acquiring company must submit a duly signed approval notification of the funding decision (Y1).
Send the template to Business Finland's record office by secure email
If the funding granted to the project is a loan and the loan is transferred to a new holder, the customer must submit the following attachments to the State Treasury:
- a recent Trade Register extract of the acquiring company
- the decision of the acquiring company’s board of directors to accept the loan related to the project.
The funding decision cannot be transferred outside Finland. When the entire business is transferred outside the European Single Market, Business Finland can also demand the repayment of its grants for projects when less than five years has passed since the payment of final funding installment. When the business is sold outside Finland within the European Single Market, the loans granted by Business Finland will generally be repaid when implementing the arrangement.
