CELEX: 32015M7679
Language: en
Date: 2015-08-27 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 27/08/2015 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.7679 - EVO PAYMENTS INTERNATIONAL / RAIFFEISEN BANK POLSKA / RAIFFEISENBANK / JVS) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

|[pic]                             |EUROPEAN COMMISSION                                                                                      |

                                        Brussels, 27.08.2015
                                        C(2015) 6099

                                        [pic]

|To the notifying parties:                                       |
|                                                                |

Dear Sirs,

Subject:    Case M.7679 - EVO PAYMENTS INTERNATIONAL/ RAIFFEISEN BANK POLSKA/ RAIFFEISENBANK/ JVS
         Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004[1] and Article 57 of the Agreement on the
         European Economic Area[2]

 1. On 4 August 2015, the European Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the  Merger  Regulation
    by which

    (i) the undertaking Centrum Elektronicznych Usług Płatniczych “eService” Sp. z o.o., Poland ("eService", Poland), jointly controlled by  the
    EVO Payments International group of companies ("EVO", USA) and the Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności  Bank  Polski  group  of  companies  ("PKO",
    Poland), and

    (ii) the undertakings Raiffeisen Bank Polska S.A. ("RBPL", Poland) and Raiffeisen a.s. ("RBCZ, Czech Republic), both part of the  Raiffeisen
    Zentralbank Österreich Aktiengesellschaft group of companies (Austria) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the  Merger
    Regulation joint control of a newly created joint venture company in Poland and a newly created joint venture company in the Czech  Republic
    ("JVs", Poland and Czech Republic) by way of purchase of shares and contract of management. The merchant acquiring businesses  of  RBPL  and
    RBCZ will be transferred to the JVs.[3]

 2. The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

        – eService: Provision of acquiring processing services for card payments made at POS terminals or through the internet in Poland

        – EVO: Electronic transaction payment processing and related services in the USA, Canada and the EEA

        – RBPL: Banking and financial services in Poland

        – RBCZ: Banking and financial services in the Czech Republic

        – Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich Aktiengesellschaft: Banking and financial services in the EEA

    The JVs will provide merchant acquiring and acquiring processing services in Poland and in the Czech Republic.

 3. After examination of the notification, the European Commission has concluded that the notified operation  falls  within  the  scope  of  the
    Merger Regulation and of paragraph 5(a) and 6 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 simplified procedure, the European Commission has decided not to oppose  the  notified  operation
    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 Regulation and Article 57 of the EEA Agreement.

                                        For the Commission
                                        (Signed)
                                        Alexander ITALIANER
                                        Director-General

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[1]   OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the "Merger Regulation"). With effect from 1 December 2009, the Treaty on the Functioning of the  European  Union
    ("TFEU") has introduced certain changes, such as the replacement of "Community" by "Union" and "common market"  by  "internal  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 265, 13.8.2015, p. 6.

[4]   OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

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                                                                  PUBLIC VERSION

                                                           SIMPLIFIED MERGER PROCEDURE