CELEX: 32020M9903
Language: en
Date: 2020-08-06 00:00:00
Title: Commission Decision of 06/08/2020 declaring a concentration to be compatible with the common market (Case No COMP/M.9903 - SOFTBANK GROUP / MIZUHO FINANCIAL GROUP / ONE TAP BUY) according to Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (Only the English text is authentic)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
                                                                Brussels, 6.8.2020
                                                                C(2020) 5516 final
                                                                                 PUBLIC VERSION
                                                                To the notifying parties
Subject:        Case M.9903 - SOFTBANK GROUP / MIZUHO FINANCIAL GROUP /
                ONE TAP BUY
                Commission decision pursuant to Article 6(1)(b) of Council Regulation
                                       1
                (EC) No 139/2004 and Article 57 of the Agreement on the European
                                    2
                Economic Area
Dear Sir or Madam,
1.      On 14 July 2020, the European Commission received notification of a proposed
        concentration pursuant to Article 4 of the Merger Regulation by which the
        undertakings SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”, Japan), a subsidiary of Softbank Group
        Corp., and Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. (“Mizuho”, Japan), a subsidiary of Mizuho
        Financial Group, acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger
        Regulation joint control of One Tap BUY Co., Ltd. (“OTB”, Japan). OTB is currently
        solely controlled by SoftBank. The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase
        of shares.3
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.
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 242, 22.07.2020, p. 19.
Commission européenne, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Bruxelles, BELGIQUE
Europese Commissie, DG COMP MERGER REGISTRY, 1049 Brussel, BELGIË
Tel: +32 229-91111. Fax: +32 229-64301. E-mail: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu.
 ---pagebreak--- 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) 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)
                                                  Olivier GUERSENT
                                                  Director-General
4  OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.
                                              2