Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12481 – CENTERBRIDGE / SANTANDER / EBURY) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2026-08-03
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: banking, economic concentration, international payment, investment company, merger control








C_202604246EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/4246


3.8.2026






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12481 – CENTERBRIDGE / SANTANDER / EBURY)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2026/4246)


1.   
On 24 July 2026, 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:






—


CB Victoria Lux S.à r.l. (‘CB Victoria’, United States), ultimately controlled by funds advised by Centerbridge Partners, L.P. (‘Centerbridge’, United States),










—


Santander Payment Solutions, S.L. (previously known as PagoNxt, S.L.) (Spain), belonging to the Banco Santander, S.A. (‘Santander’, Spain) which is the parent entity of the Banco Santander Group (Spain).




Centerbridge and Santander will acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Ebury Partners Limited (‘Ebury’, United Kingdom), ultimately controlled by Santander.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






—


Centerbridge is a private investment management firm, with offices in New York and London, which provides advice and / or management services from private equity to credit and related strategies, and real estate,










—


Santander is a commercial bank headquartered in Spain. The group’s activities are consolidated into five global businesses: Retail & Commercial Banking, Digital Consumer Bank, Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance and Payments.






3.   
The business activities of the undertaking Ebury are the following:






—


Ebury is a cross-border FX and payments platform serving companies that transact internationally, principally supporting them with paying and getting paid in different currencies (spot FX) and managing currency risk.






4.   
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 treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (2), it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


5.   
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed concentration 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.12481 – CENTERBRIDGE / SANTANDER / EBURY
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

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 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/4246/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)