9.9.2014   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 304/5

1.

On 1 September 2014, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which affiliates of Warburg Pincus LLC (‘Warburg Pincus’, USA) acquire, within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation, joint control of the undertaking Santander Banco de Emisiones, S.A. (to be renamed Santander Securities Services, S.A., Spain) and, indirectly, in certain subsidiaries in Spain, Brazil and Mexico (collectively, ‘Coffer’), by way of purchase of shares. Coffer is currently solely controlled by Banco Santander S.A. (‘Santander’, Spain).

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—   Warburg Pincus: private equity firm active globally in a variety of sectors, including consumer, industrial and services (CIS), energy, financial services, healthcare, and technology, media and telecommunications (TMT),

—   Santander: is the parent company of an international group of banking and financial companies operating in Europe, the United States and Latin America. It is active in retail banking, asset management, corporate and investment banking, treasury and insurance,

—   Coffer: is a provider of custody and fund administration services in Spain, Brazil and Mexico.

3.

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

4.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number M.7344 — Warburg Pincus/Banco Santander/Coffer, to the following address: