6.2.2007 Official Journal of the European Union L 32/49 COMMISSION DECISION of 16 May 2006 on State aid C 26/2004 (ex NN 38/2004) implemented by Germany for Schneider Technologies AG (notified under document number C(2006) 1857) (Only the German text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2007/56/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular 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 (*) pursuant to the provisions cited above and having regard to their comments, Whereas: L. PROCEDURE (1)  On 24 March 2003, the Commission received a complaint concerning a number of alleged state aid measures in favour of Schneider Technologies AG (‘Schneider AG). The complainant, Gebriider Schneider GmbH & Co. KG, is a holding company which held the shares in Schneider AG and which is owned by two Schneider brothers. On 14 July 2004, the Commission initiated the formal investigation procedure with respect to three loans granted by the Bayrische Landesanstalt fiir Aufbaufinanzierung (Bavarian State Institute for Development Financing — ‘LfA’) and two grants from the Bayrische Forschungsstiftung (Bavarian Research Foundation — ‘BFS’) for research and development (R&D’). The Commission’s decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 22 February 2005 (%). The Commission invited interested parties to submit comments on the suspected aid. No such third party comments were submitted (*). Germany's response to the initiation of the formal investigation procedure was submitted by letters dated 16 and 24 September 2004, registered as received on the same respective days. The Commission requested further information on 6 Sep- tember 2005, which Germany submitted by letter dated 5 October 2005, registered as received on 6 October 2005. OJ C 46, 22.2.2005, p. 12. See footnote 1. Some submissions received during and after the period concerned cannot be considered formal comments (being mainly unrelated press articles without further comments and an offer to provide case-related consultancy services to the Commission without any actual comments). 4) Additional information was submitted on 6 February 2006, registered as received on 7 February 2006. 1. DESCRIPTION 1. THE BENEFICIARY Schneider AG, a large undertaking, was a German producer of colour television sets headquartered in Tiirkheim, Bavaria. In addition to its manufacturing activities, the company had embarked in the 1990s on an ambitious project concerning the development of a laser display technology which was expected to deliver sharper images, higher brightness, unlimited screen size and flexibility in terms of projection surface. Between 2000 and 2002, these two main areas of activity were allocated to two newly created subsidiaries of Schneider AG: Schneider Electronics AG (SE), which continued the television set production, and Schneider Laser Technologies AG (‘SLT’). The LfA, a public bank having as its object the promotion of regional economic development, had held shares in Schneider AG since 1998. In 1999/2000, the LfA was the biggest shareholder, holding 35,6 % of the shares. Lehman Brothers, a private investment bank, held 26,6 %, Gebr. Schneider GmbH & Co. KG 14,6 % and other private investors 23,2 %. At that time, the market had high expectations of Schneider AG's future success as a result of its leading role in laser display technology. Between 1998 and 2000, Schneider AG’s share price increased almost tenfold, and between 1999 and 2000 it increased by about two and a half times. This positive view of the company’s future was shared by the second biggest investor, Lechman Brothers, as evidenced by a study issued in April 2000 which explained that break- even in the field of production of consumer electronics was expected by the end of 2000, whereas break-even in laser display technology was expected for Q4 of 2001. Lehman Brothers bought [...] (*) shares from the LfA between mid- 1999 and mid-2000. (*) Business secret