84It must further be borne in mind that, in accordance with case-law, when a firm faced with a substantial deterioration of its financial situation proposes an agreement or series of agreements for debt arrangement to its creditors with a view to remedying the situation and avoiding liquidation, each creditor must make a decision having regard to the amount offered to it under the proposed agreement, on the one hand, and the amount it expects to be able to recover following possible liquidation of the firm, on the other. Its choice is influenced by a number of factors, including the creditor’s status as the holder of a secured, preferential or ordinary claim, the nature and extent of any security it may hold, its assessment of the chances of the firm being restored to viability, as well as the amount it would receive in the event of liquidation (HAMSA v Commission, cited in paragraph 70 above, paragraph 168). It is for the Commission to determine, for each public body in question, having regard inter alia to the abovementioned factors, whether the debt remissions granted by them were manifestly more generous than those which would have been granted by a hypothetical private creditor in a situation comparable vis-à-vis the undertaking concerned to that of the public body in question and seeking to recover the sums owed to it (DM Transport, cited in paragraph 70 above, paragraph 25, and HAMSA v Commission, cited in paragraph 70 above, paragraph 170).
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