L 190/18 Official Journal of the European Union 21.7.2007 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 21 March 2007 on the measure implemented by Germany for Bavaria Film GmbH — C 51/03 (ex NN 57/03) (notified under document number C(2007) 1170) (Only the German version is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2007/515[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments (') and having regard to their comments, Whereas: 1. PROCEDURE (1)  Following complaints concerning alleged State aid to Bavaria Film GmbH (hereinafter called ‘BAV’), the Commission opened a formal investigation procedure on 23 July 2003. Germany submitted comments on 20 October 2003; no comments were received from competitors or other interested parties. The Commission requested information on 3 May 2005, which Germany provided by letter dated 1 July 2005. Following a meeting on 12 October 2005, Germany submitted further information on 9 and 21 November 2006. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE ORIGINAL MEASURE 2.1. Introduction 2 In 1999, the construction and fitting-out of a state-of- the-art film studio (hereinafter called ‘the studio) was begun on a site owned by BAV. BAV has its headquarters () O] C 249, 17.10.2003, p. 2. = on the site, called Filmstadt Geiselgasteig, in the German Land of Bavaria. BAV is a privately incorporated film production company (?). 2.2. The investor — the special-purpose vehicle BFH The abovementioned investment was effected through a special-purpose  vehicle called Bayerische Filmhallen GmbH (hereinafter called ‘BFH’). BFH's equity capital amounts to EUR 50 000. The company is owned 49 % by the publicsector bank LfA Forderbank Bayern (hereinafter called ‘LfA’), 21 % is held in trust by a private individual, Lothar Wedel (}), while the remaining 30 % belongs to BAV. The nominal value of BAV's equity stake is, therefore, EUR 15 000. The stakes held by LfA and BAV were determined on the basis of their respective funding contributions to BFH. 2.3. Investment conditions In addition to the paid-up equity capital, LfA awarded BFH a grant of EUR 3,8 million and a loan (to be converted into a grant at a later stage) of EUR 3,1 million (*). The total of EUR 6,9 million was intended to finance the full cost of building the new studio. (3) From its early beginnings as a studio in 1919, Bavaria Film has steadily grown until it now has more than 30 subsidiaries and joint ventures in Germany, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic. The Bavaria group operates worldwide in every sector of the audio- visual industry. BAV's share capital is more than 50 % owned by regional public broadcasters. It was originally intended that LfA should hold 70 %. For legal reasons (exceeding of the single large loan ceiling under the Banking Act), a 21 % share was made over to a lawyer, Mr Lothar Wedel. Contrary to what was stated in the decision opening the procedure, the EUR 3,1 million was only partly converted into a grant. Following the Commission’s decision to open the procedure, the last loan instalment of EUR 1,345 million was not converted into a grant, the loan plus interest being instead prolonged.