(ANSA) - MILAN, OCTOBER 14 - The Antitrust Authority has authorized the merger by incorporation of Sia into Nexi under conditions.
The operation, which involves the aggregation of the two operators, involves numerous activities in the field of digital payments, such as merchant acquiring services, processing, payment card issuance, retail clearing of payments, transmission of interbank data, as well as services for the supply and maintenance of ATMs.
"The competitive environment in which the prospective effect of the transaction must be assessed - is found by the Authority - is often supranational and includes important foreign operators which are able to offer valid alternatives to the national clients of the post-merger entity. However, temporariness continues to characterize a narrow range of markets affected by the merger, which remain defined from a geographical point of view at a national level ". In particular, the Authority found that the concentration "is capable of producing the establishment or strengthening of the dominant position of thepost-merger entity in the national card processing markets of the ATM circuit and clearing services for non-Sepa products (Single Euro Payments Area, or the single euro payments area), although the expected evolution of these markets indicates that this situation is only temporary ".
(HANDLE).
