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STATE AID — UNITED KINGDOM

Aid C 17/04 (ex N 566/03) — ‘Enterprise capital funds’

Invitation to submit comments pursuant to Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty

(2004/C 225/02)

(Text with EEA relevance)

By means of the letter dated 7 May 2004 reproduced in the authentic language on the pages following this summary, the Commission notified the United Kingdom of its decision to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty concerning the abovementioned aid scheme.

Interested parties may submit their comments on the measure in respect of which the Commission is initiating the procedure within one month of the date of publication of this summary and the following letter, to:

These comments will be communicated to the United Kingdom. Confidential treatment of the identity of the interested party submitting the comments may be requested in writing, stating the reasons for the request.

SUMMARY

By letter dated 25 November 2003, registered at the Commission on 26 November 2003, the UK authorities notified, pursuant to Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty, the 'Enterprise capital funds' scheme. By letter D/58191 dated 19 December 2003 the Commission requested additional information concerning the abovementioned measure. This information was submitted by the United Kingdom authorities by letter dated 30 January 2004 and letter dated 19 March 2004, registered at the Commission on 3 February 2004 and 25 March 2004, respectively.

The scheme intends to improve access to growth capital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) throughout the United Kingdom. SMEs seeking to raise initial equity funding of between GBP 250 000 (EUR 357 000) and GBP 2 million (EUR 2,9 million) will approach licensed enterprise capital funds (ECFs) to be set up under the scheme. The licensing process will be overlooked by the Small Business Service (SBS) of the UK Department of Trade and Industry.

The scheme is exclusively aimed at unquoted small and medium-sized enterprises (1) in the United Kingdom. Firms in difficulty as defined by the Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (2) are excluded from investment. Enterprise capital funds (ECFs) will not invest in sensitive sectors under State aid restrictions or in sectors to which the Commission Communication on State aid and risk capital (3) does not apply.

The notified scheme is intended to be self-financing over the medium term. In terms of accounting for the scheme in its initial phase, the United Kingdom has allocated [...] (4) to cover the cash-flow cost of the initial leverage.

The United Kingdom seeks approval for an initial period of 10 years.

Enterprise capital funds will be required to invest in small and medium-sized enterprises by means of equity or quasi-equity instruments.

The United Kingdom authorities have committed themselves that the beneficiary SMEs' eligibility for other publicly funded grants, loans or other forms of investment aid outside of this notification will be restricted by 30 % of the aid intensity that would otherwise be permissible.

Existence of State aid

The Commission considers, at this stage of the procedure, that the measure constitutes State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty. According to the provisions of the Commission Communication on State aid and risk capital (5), the assessment of the presence of State aid must consider the possibility that a measure may confer aid on at least three different levels:

At the level of investors, the Commission considers that there is State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty.

At the level of the fund, the Commission does not consider the enterprise capital funds to be separate aid beneficiaries.

At the level of the companies invested in, the Commission considers that there is State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty.

Preliminary assessment of conformity of the measure

The measure fulfils several of the conditions laid down in the Commission communication on State aid and risk capital.

Evidence of market failure

Point VI.5 of the Commission Communication on State aid and risk capital stipulates that the Commission will require evidence of market failure for risk capital measures. It may however be prepared to accept the case for market failure when each tranche of finance for an enterprise from risk capital measures which are wholly or partially financed through State aid will contain a maximum of EUR 500 000, or EUR 750 000 in regions qualifying for assistance pursuant to Article 87(3)(c), or EUR 1 million in regions qualifying for assistance pursuant to Article 87(3)(a) of the EC Treaty.

Taking into account that the United Kingdom consists of non-assisted areas as well as Article 87(3)(c) and Article 87(3)(a) areas as outlined in the Regional Aid Map 2000-2006 for the United Kingdom (7), and bearing in mind that the United Kingdom authorities intend to grant tranches of investment aid of up to GBP 2 million (EUR 2,9 million) regardless of the location of the beneficiary enterprise, the Commission concludes that the existence of market failure cannot be taken for granted without further evidence. The intended tranche size under the present scheme significantly exceeds the thresholds outlined in the Commission Communication on State aid and risk capital and the Commission must therefore require provision of evidence for the existence of market failure.

In order to demonstrate the existence of market failure, the United Kingdom authorities have submitted a paper entitled ‘Assessing the Scale of the Equity Gap in the UK Economy’, written in 2003, as well as a paper entitled ‘Assessing the Finance Gap’. The key finding of these papers is that there is a gap in the provision of venture capital for SMEs in the deal size range of GBP 250 000 (EUR 357 000) to GBP 2 million (EUR 2,9 million).

The Commission, after a first preliminary assessment of the measure, has doubts if the arguments presented by the United Kingdom authorities can sufficiently justify the granting of risk capital investment tranches considerably higher than the maximum investment tranches foreseen by the Commission Communication on State aid and risk capital. The Commission is of the opinion that a more thorough analysis of this complex question is necessary. The Commission wishes to collect information from other interested parties, notably from potential providers of risk capital to SMEs in the United Kingdom. In order to do so, the Commission must, for legal reasons, open the procedure provided for in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty. It is only with the help of such observations that the Commission can decide whether such aid is necessary and does not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest.

TEXT OF LETTER

‘The Commission wishes to inform the United Kingdom that, having examined the information supplied by your authorities on the aid measure referred to above, it has decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty.

By letter dated 25 November 2003, registered at the Commission on 26 November 2003, the UK authorities notified, pursuant to Article 88(3) EC, the “Enterprise Capital Funds” scheme. By letter D/58191 dated 19 December 2003 the Commission requested additional information concerning the above-mentioned measure. This information was submitted by the UK authorities by letter dated 30 January 2004 and letter dated 19 March 2004, registered at the Commission on 3 February 2004 and 25 March 2004.

The scheme intends to improve access to growth capital for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) throughout the UK. SMEs seeking to raise initial equity funding of between £ 250,000 (EUR 357,000) and £ 2 million (EUR 2.9 million) will approach licensed Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) to be set up under the scheme. The licensing process will be overlooked by the Small Business Service (SBS) of the UK Department of Trade and Industry.

The legal basis of the scheme is section 8 of the “Industrial Development Assistance Act 1982”.

The scheme is exclusively aimed at unquoted small and medium-sized enterprises (8) in the United Kingdom. Firms in difficulty as defined by the “Community guidelines on State aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty” (9) are excluded from investment. Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) will not invest in sensitive sectors under State aid restrictions or in sectors to which the “Commission Communication on State Aid and Risk Capital” (10) does not apply. Low-risk sectors including property, land, finance and investment companies, or finance-type leasing companies will not be eligible for investment under the scheme. Enterprise Capital Funds will also be prevented from investing in other ECFs.

The UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will have statutory responsibility through its executive agency Small Business Service (SBS). It will monitor ongoing investments undertaken by ECFs without having any direct control over ECFs' individual investment decisions. It will also ensure that each ECF complies with its business plan and adheres to the terms of its successful bid.

The notified scheme is intended to be self-financing over the medium term. In terms of accounting for the scheme in its initial phase, the UK has allocated [...] (11) to cover the cash-flow cost of the initial leverage.

The UK seeks approval for an initial period of 10 years.

The Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) foreseen under the scheme will combine private and public money for investment into SMEs. Following a licensing process attributing ECF status, the funds will then be entitled to receive public leverage at market rates or above.

Leverage to licensed Enterprise Capital Funds will be limited to no more than two times the private capital raised by the fund. The leverage, interest on the leverage and a profit-share for the public contribution will need to be repaid by the Enterprise Capital Funds, thereby ensuring that over the medium term the programme will be self-financing.

The exact amounts of leverage, profit-share and repayment priorities will be determined by a competitive bidding process, thereby ensuring minimal public support to attract private capital. Open invitation for applications through publication of the scheme in the Official Journal of the European Union and the relevant trade press will safeguard this general principle. As part of applying for ECF status, applicants will be asked to specify how much leverage (maximum two times private capital) they wish to use, the profit share with the public and the prioritisation of repayments of:

Potential ECF operators will be asked to submit a robust business plan including:

ECFs will be required to abide by British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) guidelines on accounting standards.

The public administrative body will not accept bids in which the public leverage is exposed to greater risk than the private capital. At the same time, private investors in Enterprise Capital Funds may be exposed to greater downside risk than the public. This will ensure commercial best practice in the operation and decision making of the Enterprise Capital Funds.

Once an Enterprise Capital Fund has been approved and has started to make investments, it will be eligible to receive public leverage in proportion to the amount of capital drawn down from private investors in the form of a participating stake in the Enterprise Capital Fund. The size of the leverage entitlement will be capped at up to two times the private capital committed for Enterprise Capital Funds.

Enterprise Capital Funds will invest in eligible SMEs and will be allowed to participate in initial equity funding rounds of up to £ 2 million (EUR 2.9 million) in total. Follow-on investments will be permitted so long as the total equity funding raised by any beneficiary SME is no greater than the £ 2 million (EUR 2.9 million) limit. After a period of at least 6 months from the Enterprise Capital Fund's initial investment in an SME, follow-on investments in excess of the £ 2 million (EUR 2.9 million) limit will also be permitted where necessary to prevent dilution. This will be subject to an upper limit of 10 % of each ECF's committed capital that may be invested in any single company, to ensure a satisfactory level of portfolio diversity.

Enterprise Capital Funds will be required to invest in small and medium-sized enterprises by means of equity or quasi-equity instruments.

The UK authorities have committed themselves that the beneficiary SMEs' eligibility for other publicly funded grants, loans or other forms of investment aid outside of this notification will be restricted by 30 % of the aid intensity that would otherwise be permissible.

In accordance with Article 6(1) of Council Regulation 659/1999 of 22 March 1999, the decision to initiate proceedings shall summarise the relevant issues of fact and law, shall include a preliminary assessment from the Commission as to the aid character of the proposed measure, and shall set out the doubts as to its compatibility with the common market.

By notifying the scheme, the UK authorities respected their obligations under Article 88(3) EC.

The Commission considers, at this stage of the procedure, that the measure constitutes State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty. According to the provisions of the “Commission Communication on State Aid and Risk Capital” (12), the assessment of the presence of State aid must consider the possibility that a measure may confer aid on at least three different levels:

At the level of investors, the Commission considers that there is State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC. The involvement of state resources is demonstrated by the fact that the UK authorities will provide up to two times the amount provided by private investors in Enterprise Capital Funds as public leverage. Private investors in Enterprise Capital Funds, who may be undertakings within the meaning of the EC Treaty, receive an advantage as the measure allows them to raise capital provided by the public. In the absence of public participation in the Enterprise Capital Funds, the private investors would not have been able to raise the same amounts of capital at the same conditions. Furthermore, in the case of profits earned by the Enterprise Capital Funds, private investors are entitled to higher returns than the public. Even though no person or organisation is debarred from investing in the funds, the limited size of the funds will not guarantee that all potential investment will be accepted and the Commission therefore considers that there is selectivity. Finally, the scheme affects trade between Member States, as investment in capital is an activity that is the subject of considerable trade between Member States.

At the level of the fund, the Commission in general tends to the view that a fund is a vehicle for the transfer of aid to investors and/or enterprises invested in, rather than being an aid beneficiary itself. However, in certain cases, notably measures involving transfers in favour of existing funds with numerous and diverse investors, the fund may have the character of an independent enterprise. Under the present scheme, the Enterprise Capital Funds will be newly created and will be prevented from diversifying into other activities than those intended by the scheme. The Commission therefore does not consider the Enterprise Capital Funds to be separate aid beneficiaries. This principle is in line with the Commission decisions on the “Viridian Growth Fund” (13), the “Coalfields Enterprise Fund” (14) and the “Community Development Venture Fund” (15).

At the level of the companies invested in, the Commission considers that there is State aid within the meaning of Article 87(1) EC as risk capital would not be available to SMEs in the same amounts and at the same conditions in absence of the scheme. The stated objective of the scheme is to extend the opportunity to access risk capital to SMEs in the United Kingdom and the scheme is therefore considered to be selective.

ECFs will be restricted to investments in small and medium-sized enterprises within the Commission definition. In addition, there will be restrictions preventing investments within specified sectors, including low risk firms as described under point 2.1.3 above.

ECFs will be required to invest capital in SMEs by means of equity or quasi-equity instruments. Investments that are composed wholly of debt instruments with no equity features will not be permitted.

The public authorities will have no involvement in the investment choices and decision making of any ECFs apart from setting restrictions to ensure that investments are limited to SMEs. The administrative body SBS will only approve ECFs where operators have a clear incentive to maximise returns. The terms on which the public authorities will invest in ECFs will give private investors very strong incentives to ensure that their funds are profit-driven and perform successfully. These incentives arise because private investors will have to pay interest on the public capital, and fully repay capital to both the public and private investors, before any profits can be distributed. As a result, private investors will bear at least a proportionate share of any losses made by ECFs. Investment decisions will be taken by commercial managers of the ECF funds with an interest in ensuring a maximum return for the fund. ECFs or their operators will be required to act in line with industry standards (BVCA guidelines).

The UK authorities will ensure that the ECF scheme is publicised and that applications are invited from across the EEA with notices in the Official Journal of the European Union and the relevant trade press. There will be no restriction on location for any investor or operator.

Enterprise Capital Funds (ECFs) will not invest in sensitive sectors under State aid restrictions or in sectors to which the “Commission Communication on State Aid and Risk Capital” (16) does not apply. Low-risk sectors including property, land, finance and investment companies, or finance-type leasing companies will not be eligible for investment under the scheme.

The UK authorities have committed themselves that the beneficiary SMEs' eligibility for other publicly funded grants, loans or other forms of investment aid outside of this notification will be restricted by 30 % of the aid intensity that would otherwise be permissible.

Point VI.5 of the “Commission Communication on State Aid and Risk Capital” stipulates that the Commission will require evidence of market failure for risk capital measures. It may however be prepared to accept the case for market failure when each tranche of finance for an enterprise from risk capital measures which are wholly or partially financed through State aid will contain a maximum of EUR 500,000, or EUR 750,000 in regions qualifying for assistance under Article 87(3)(c) or EUR 1 million in regions qualifying for assistance under Article 87(3)(a) EC.

Taking into account that the UK consists of non-assisted areas as well as Article 87(3)(c) and Article 87(3)(a) areas as outlined in the Regional Aid Map 2000–2006 for the United Kingdom (17), and bearing in mind that the UK authorities intend to grant tranches of investment aid of up to £ 2 million (EUR 2.9 million) regardless of the location of the beneficiary enterprise, the Commission concludes that the existence of market failure cannot be taken for granted without further evidence. The intended tranche size under the present scheme significantly exceeds the thresholds outlined in the “Commission Communication on State Aid and Risk Capital” and the Commission must therefore require provision of evidence for the existence of market failure.

In order to demonstrate the existence of market failure, the UK authorities have submitted a paper “Assessing the Scale of the “Equity Gap” in the UK Economy” written in 2003, as well as a paper “Assessing the Finance Gap”. The key finding of these papers is that there is a gap in the provision of venture capital for SMEs in the deal size range of £ 250,000 (EUR 357,000) to £ 2 million (EUR 2.9 million) for the following reasons:

The Commission, after a first preliminary assessment of the measure, has doubts if the arguments presented above can sufficiently justify the granting of risk capital investment tranches up to 5.7 times than the maximum investment tranches foreseen by the “Commission Communication on State Aid and Risk Capital”. The Commission is of the opinion that a more thorough analysis of this alleged market failure is necessary. The Commission wishes to collect information from other interested parties, notably from potential providers of risk capital to SMEs in the United Kingdom on this complex question. In order to do so, the Commission must, for legal reasons, open the procedure provided for in Article 88(2) ECT. It is only with the help of such observations that the Commission can decide whether such aid is necessary and does not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest.

In the light of the foregoing considerations, the Commission, acting under the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty, requests the United Kingdom to submit its comments and to provide all such information as may help to assess the aid scheme, within one month of the date of receipt of this letter.

The Commission wishes to remind the United Kingdom that Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty has suspensory effect, and would draw your attention to Article 14 of Council Regulation (EC) No 659/1999, which provides that all unlawful aid may be recovered from the recipients.

The Commission warns the United Kingdom that it will inform interested parties by publishing this letter and a meaningful summary of it in the Official Journal of the European Union. It will also inform interested parties in the EFTA countries which are signatories to the EEA Agreement, by publication of a notice in the EEA Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union and will inform the EFTA Surveillance Authority by sending a copy of this letter. All such interested parties will be invited to submit their comments within one month of the date of such publication.’

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(1)  The definition of small and medium-sized enterprises applied by the United Kingdom authorities for the purposes of the scheme is always in line with the definition given in Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 70/2001 of 12 January 2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 33).

(2)OJ C 288, 9.10.1999, p. 2.

(3)OJ C 235, 21.8.2001, p. 3.

(4)  Business secret.

(5)OJ C 235, 21.8.2001, p. 3.

(6)OJ C 235, 21.8.2001, p. 3.

(7)  Commission decision of 26 July 2000 (OJ C 272, 2000).

(8)  The definition of small and medium-sized enterprises applied by the UK authorities for the purposes of the scheme is always in line with the definition given in Annex I to the Commission Regulation No 70/2001 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the EC Treaty to State aid to small and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 10, 13.1.2001, p. 33).

(9)OJ C 288, 09.10.1999, p. 2.

(10)OJ C 235, 21.8.2001, p. 3.

(11)  Business secret

(12)OJ C 235, 21.8.2001, p. 3.

(13)  State Aid C 46/2000.

(14)  State Aid N 722/2000 .

(15)  State Aid N 606/2001.

(16)OJ C 235, 21.8.2001, p. 3.

(17)  Commission decision of 26 July 2000 (OJ C/272/2000).

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