The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has cleared the proposed acquisition of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. (Mitsubishi) of a 50 percent stake in Ayala Corp.’s AC Ventures Holding Corp. (AC Ventures).
The PCC on Thursday stated the entry of Mitsubishi into AC Ventures will not significantly reduce competition in the relevant market for the provision of Quick Response (QR) code-based digital payments to merchants.
AC Ventures is Ayala’s venture capital arm, which has investments in Globe Fintech Innovations, Inc. (Mynt), the parent company of GCash operator G-Xchange Inc. and microlender Fuse Lending.
The PCC noted the small market share held by GCash in the provision of QR-based person-to-merchant payments, as well as the strong governmental push for inter-operability in QR-based payments across the country.
Person-to-merchant payments, through the use of QR codes, enable businesses to accept digital payments from consumers for goods and services.
While Mitsubishi indirectly owns convenience store chain Lawson Philippines, which accepts QR code-based payments from consumers, the PCC stated it has limited presence that the transaction would not result in substantial lessening of competition.
