The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the creation of a joint venture combining the non-US asset management businesses of SAM Investment Holdings Limited and Pioneer Global Asset Management S.p.A.. SAM is currently jointly controlled by the private equity firms Warburg Pincus LLC and General Atlantic LLC, both of the US, and by the banking group Banco Santander S.A., of Spain. Pioneer is currently solely controlled by the banking group UniCredit S.p.A. of Italy. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns given the companies' moderate combined market shares, in particular on the concerned markets in Poland, and the presence of a number of strong competitors. The transaction was examined under the normal merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.7877. In March 2016, the Commission already cleared the parallel acquisition of Pioneer's US asset management business by Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic and UniCredit (M.7874).
