On 17th June 2022, the EC cleared the joint acquisition of Mooney by ENEL (Italy’s largest manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas) and Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy’s largest bank) following a Phase I review.
The Parties overlap in payment services (mostly taxes and utilities) through both first and third-party retail outlets, and their digital platforms in Italy. In addition, the Parties overlap in merchant acquiring, provision of POS terminals, card issuing and the provision of telephone top-ups. Following its investigation, the EC found no evidence that the merger would lead to a substantial lessening of competition.
A CRA team supported ENEL and Intesa Sanpaolo through the transaction, showing, inter alia, that online and offline payment services are part of a wider payment market. In addition, CRA played a pivotal role in showing how dynamic the payment industry is and the Parties’ strong degree of complementarity.
Further details are available on the EC case page.
