Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.9903 – SoftBank Group/Mizuho Financial Group/One Tap Buy) Candidate case for simplified procedure (Text with EEA relevance) 2020/C 242/03
Date: 2020-07-22
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Internet of Things, clean technology, economic concentration, financial market, financial services, information technology applications, merger control, robotics, subsidiary, telecommunications








C_2020242EN.01001901.xml










22.7.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 242/19






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.9903 – SoftBank Group/Mizuho Financial Group/One Tap Buy)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2020/C 242/03)

1.   
On 14 July 2020, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


SoftBank Corp. (‘SoftBank’) (Japan), a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp.,










—


Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. (‘Mizuho’) (Japan), a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group,










—


One Tap Buy Co., Ltd. (‘OTB’) (Japan), solely controlled by SoftBank.




SoftBank and Mizuho acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of OTB.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:






—


SoftBank is a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp., which is involved in advanced telecommunications, internet services, Internet of Things, robotics and clean energy technology providers,










—


Mizuho is a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group Inc., which offers financial and strategic services, including banking, securities, trust and asset management, credit card, private banking and venture capital,










—


OTB provides a mobile trading brokerage application that allows investors residing in Japan to trade securities (US-listed shares and Japanese exchange-traded funds) on the go.






3.   
On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.
Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under the Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


4.   
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:
M.9903 – SoftBank Group/Mizuho Financial Group/One Tap Buy
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email, by fax, or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu
Fax +32 22964301
Postal address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË







(1)  OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.