26/11/2018 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission approved on Monday 26 November the sale of HSH Nordbank by the Länder of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein to private investors. This sale follows a Commission decision of May 2016, according to which Berlin had undertaken to sell HSH 's operational part through an open, transparent and non-discriminatory tender process at a positive price and without additional State aid to a buyer that returns HSH to viability (see EUROPE 11544). After Germany notified a sale to a consortium of private equity funds led by J.C. Flowers and Cerberus, the Commission considered that the conditions set in May 2016 were met, as no aid was paid to the buyers in question and the viability of the entity should a priori be restored as a result of a plan provided by the buyers. (LT)