Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE  
Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERG ER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel,  BELGIË 
 Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu . 
  EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
Brussels, 29.6.2017 
C(2017) 4643 final 
 
 
To the Notifying party:  
 
Subject: Case M.8467 - BNP PA RIBAS / COMMERZ FINANZ  
Commission decision pursuant to Articl e 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) 
No 139/20041 and Article 57 of the Agreemen t on the European Economic Area2  
Dear Sir or Madam, 
1. On 6 June 2017, the European Commissi on received notification of a proposed 
concentration pursuant to Article 4  of the Merger Regulation by which the undertaking 
BNP Paribas Personal Finance SA (‘BNPP PF’, France), a wholly owned subsidiary of 
BNP Paribas SA, acquires within the meaning of  Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation 
sole control of the whole of Commerz Finanz  GmbH (‘CFG’, Germany), currently jointly 
controlled by BNPP PF and Commerzbank AG (‘Commerzbank’, Germany), by way of 
purchase of assets.3 
2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are: 
− CFG : a consumer credits bank, current ly jointly owned by BNPP PF and 
Commerzbank, mainly active in the field of lo ans to individuals in Germany. As part 
of the envisaged transaction, the comp any will be split between BNPP PF and 
Commerzbank by means of a split-off into two separate and independent business units, namely the ‘Point of Sale Finance’  business and the ‘Banking’ business. The 
‘Point of Sale Finance’ business shall remain with CFG (with BNPP PF as the sole shareholder) and will include all activities relatin g to the distributi on of CFG products 
directly to customers or via the point of  sale (offline and online) of a retailer. 
                                                 
1 OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the 'Mer ger Regulation'). With effect from  1 December 2009, the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union ('TFEU') has intr oduced certain changes, su ch as the replacement of 
'Community' by 'Union' and 'common market' by 'interna l market'. The terminology of the TFEU will be used 
throughout this decision.  
2  OJ L 1, 3.1.1994, p. 3 (the 'EEA Agreement'). 
3  Publication in the Official Journal of the European Union No C 189, 15.06.2017, p. 50. 
PUBLIC VERSION 
2 − BNPP PF : a financial services company wholly  owned by BNP Paribas SA, primarily 
active in the area of consumer credits. BNP Paribas SA is a global banking group 
active in all main banking businesses: reta il banking, asset management and services 
as well as corporate a nd investment banking. 
3. After examination of the notification, the Eu ropean Commission ha s concluded that the 
notified operation falls within the scope of th e Merger Regulation and of paragraph 5(c) 
and 5(d)  of the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain 
concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004.4 
4. For the reasons set out in the Notice on a simp lified procedure, the European Commission 
has decided not to oppose the notified operati on and to declare it compatible with the 
internal market and with the EEA Agreement. This decision is adopted in application of 
Article 6(1)(b) of the Merger Regulati on and Article 57 of the EEA Agreement. 
For the Commission 
 
(signed) 
Johannes LAITENBERGER Director-General 
                                                 
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.