LG.Philips LCD and Other Korean Investors in Poland Win EU Clearance of Over €200 Million in Public Support

Cleary Gottlieb won EU Commission approval for public support by Polish authorities worth more than €200 million, net present value (more than € 250 million (US$ 300 million) in nominal value) for a series of nine separate investments by long-standing Cleary Gottlieb client LG.Philips LCD and seven other Korean investors represented by Cleary Gottlieb. The state aid is granted for investments near Wroclaw, Poland, where a cluster of manufacturing facilities aimed at the production of television LCD screens (“modules”) will be set up during the next five years. The total investment in the cluster, up to 2011, will exceed €800 million (nominal value, equal to US $1 billion). The combined value of these projects constitutes one of the largest investment programs undertaken in Poland since Poland became a market economy.

The measure received the support of European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, who said: “I am pleased to approve aid for this cluster of investments by Korean-based companies. The project will increase the competitiveness of both Poland and Europe in the rapidly expanding sector of consumer electronics, promote innovation and contribute at the same time to regional development in a disadvantaged region”.