SIA (Societ Interbancaria per l’Automazione) and SSB (Societ per i Servizi Bancari) welcomed the Italian Antitrust Authority decision to authorize the merger between the two companies.
The decision was granted after the authority’s preliminary investigation started on 21 February 2007, carried out in a context of complete transparency and collaboration. The decision will enable the completion of the merger, which will create a group provider of services and applications in strategic sectors such as credit and debit card processing, payment systems and capital markets.
The Italian Antitrust Authority has taken into consideration the measures proposed by SIA and SSB intended to avoid possible breaches of unfair competition laws and, thus, has authorized the merger.
SIA and SSB will draw up the merger contractual agreement within the end of the month and the new company will be operative at the beginning of May.