Press Release: Mergers: European Commission approves acquisition of certain Italian retail banking branches by Crédit Agricole

The European Commission has approved under the Merger Regulation the acquisition of the retail bank Cassa di Risparmio della Spezia SpA of Italy and a number of other retail bank branches of Intesa San Paolo in Italy by Crédit Agricole of France. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it. As a result, the Commission concluded that there was no need for the matter to be examined by the Italian competition authority, which had asked for a referral of the case.