Press Release: State aid: Commission orders Germany to recover €5.2 million illegal aid granted to Biria group

The European Commission has decided that a so-called 'silent participation' and two guarantees, granted by a public investment company and the German Land of Saxony to companies of the Biria group, a producer of bicycles, are illegal under EC Treaty state aid rules (Article 87) because they distort competition within the EU Single Market. A 'silent participation' is comparable to a loan. The investor does not obtain any shares in the company but receives a remuneration. The aid, worth €5.2 million, must now be recovered by the German Government from the beneficiaries. The Commission has decided not to extend the recovery to the Lone Star group that took over the majority of assets from the Biria group in November 2005. The money must therefore be recovered from the Biria group.