The aid to Rover Group amounting to £ 800 million is notified to the Commission in the form of a capital contribution aiming at a debt write-off to be awarded in 1988 in the framework of its acquisition by British Aerospace is compatible with the common market pursuant to Article 92 (3) (c) up to a maximum amount of £ 469 million, provided that the United Kingdom Government:
1. does not alter the proposed terms of sale as communicated to the Commission and in particular:
- the acquisition price paid by British Aerospace will be £ 150 million,
- British Aerospace will bear all future restructuring costs,
- Rover Group will not use more than £ 500 million of its current £ 1 600 million trading tax losses and these trading tax losses will remain within Rover Group,
- British Aerospace cannot on-sell the core businesses of Rover Group within the next five years without incurring a penalty of up to £ 650 million,
with the exception of the amount of debt write-off which must be limited to £ 469 million;
2. ensures that the aid will be used exclusively for the repayment of financial debts of Rover Group;
3. refrains from granting any further aid in the form of capital contributions and any other form of discretionary aid to the Rover Group with the exception of a regional grant not exceeding £ 78 million in support of the future investment plan of Rover Group up to 1992. This may only be awarded in so far as the investment plan as communicated to the Commission is fully realized; 4. ensures that British Aerospace completes the Rover Group corporate plan by the end of 1992 in accordance with the details communicated to the Commission;
5. ensures that any underspending or overevaluation on any of the debt items communicated to the Commission is repaid to the United Kingdom Government no later than on the completion of the corporate plan;
6. ensures that Rover Group shall, once it has passed into private ownership, no longer benefit from the parliamentary assurances given in relation to its obligations taken over by the purchaser and, moreover, refrains from guaranteeing new obligations incurred by Rover Group after completion of the sale.
Throughout the implementation of the corporate plan the United Kingdom Government shall provide the Commission with a half-yearly report on Rover Group's trading performance, capacity changes, production, pricing policy and intra-Community exports by product as well as a detailed survey of all restructuring measures undertaken in the previous six months.