Shell sells stake in German biofuel firm Choren

HAMBURG Nov 5 (Reuters) - Oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has sold its shareholding in German second-generation biofuels company Choren, Choren said on Thursday.

Choren is building Germany's first biofuels plant using new generations of non-food raw materials as feedstock and is likely to start initial commercial production in 2010.

Shell had sold its minority shareholding to other shareholders which comprise German vehicles groups Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) and Daimler (DAIGn.DE) plus a consortium of investors largely from the Hamburg region, Choren said in a statement.

Remaining shareholders had agreed on a capital increase to finance the project, the statement said. Shell would continue to give technical expertise to Choren.

No details of the transaction, including the size of the shareholding were being given, a Choren spokeswoman said. Shell's decision would not affect the project's viability.

The plant is being built in Freiberg in south Germany to produce about 15,000 tonnes of biomass-to-liquid (BTL) fuels largely using wood products and wood-based waste as feedstock.

Other first generation biofuels plants in Germany use food-based feedstocks such as rapeseed oil and maize. (Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by Sue Thomas)