(Finance) – The European Commission has approvedunder the EU Merger Regulation, theacquisition of joint control of the Portuguese company Universo IME by Sonae SGPS, also Portuguese, and by the Spanish Bankinter Consumer Finance (BKCF).
IME universe is active in payment services to consumers, in credit intermediation for consumer loans granted by third parties as well as in dealer acquiring services for resellers. Sonae is primarily active in the food and non-food retail sector, as well as in the consumer finance and insurance sector. BKCF is mainly active in the retail banking sector.
The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns, given the limited horizontal overlaps and vertical links between Sonae and BKCF’s activities in the European Economic Area. The transaction was examined under the simplified procedure.