BRUSSELS, Feb 29 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger proces
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS -- Coop subsidiary Bell AG to acquire poultry processing company HL Verwaltung (approved Feb. 26)
-- German food company Tonnies to acquire Danish peer Tican (approved Feb. 26)
-- Celulosa Arauco y Constitucion S.A. (Arauco) and Sonae Industria SGPS, SA (Sonae Industria) to acquire indirect joint control of wood products company Tableros de Fibras S.A. (Tafisa) (approved Feb. 26)
NEW LISTINGS -- Global Infrastructure Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to jointly acquire some businesses from Australian freight company Asciano (AIO) (notified Feb. 26/deadline April 6/simplified)
-- Worldline WLN.PA to acquire PaySquare from Equens (notified Feb. 26/deadline April 6)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES -- Statoil Fuel and Retail STL.OL to acquire fuels business of Dansk Fuels (notified on Feb. 4/deadline extended to March 29 from March 10 after the companies submitted concessions)
-- British supermarket J Sainsbury SBRY.L , Dansk Supermarket A/S and Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc MRW.L to acquire a grocery store (Commission says deal is outside EU merger control)
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
FEB 29 -- U.S. computer maker Dell Inc to acquire data storage company EMC Corp EMC.N (notified Jan. 25/deadline Feb. 29)
MARCH 3 -- McKesson MCK.N to acquire certain businesses, notably pharmaceutical wholesaling in UK and Ireland, from UDG Healthcare UDG.L (notified Jan. 14/deadline extended to March 3 from Feb. 18 after a national competition regulator asked to take over the case)
MARCH 7 -- Private equity fund Lone Star Fund to acquire food and beverage vending machine maker N&W Global Vending
(notified Feb. 1/deadline March 7/simplified)
MARCH 9 -- German agricultural services company Hauptgenossenschaft Nord to buy sector peer Roth Agrarhandel (notified on Feb. 3/deadline March 9/simplified)
MARCH 10 -- Israeli drugmaker Teva TEVA.TA to acquire U.S. peer Allergan's AGN.N generics drugs business (notified Jan. 21/deadline extended to March 10 from Feb. 25 after Teva offers commitments)
-- Private equity firm KKR KKR.N to acquire sole control of French IT services provider Webhelp (notified on Feb. 4/deadline March 10/simplified)
-- EDF EDF.PA and China General Nuclear Power Corp forms NNB GenCo consortium for nuclear power plant construction (notified on Feb. 4/deadline March 10)
-- LVMH LVMH.PA is combining its private equity and real estate units with U.S. private equity firm Catterton to form L Catterton (notified on Feb. 4/deadline March 10/simplified)
MARCH 11 -- Nordic Capital to acquire Scandinavian fruits and vegetables distributor Greendeli Investment Holding (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 11/simplified)
MARCH 15 -- U.S. conglomerate United Technologies Corp UTX.N to acquire Italian water heating appliances maker Riello Group (notified Feb. 9/deadline March 15/simplified)
-- China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) to acquire German industrial machinery maker KraussMaffei Group
(notified Feb. 9/deadline March 15)
MARCH 16 -- Slot machine maker Loewen Entertainment German gambling halls operator Safari Holding and Schmidt Gruppe Service Gesellschaft fur Spielerschutz und pravention to set up a joint venture (notified Feb. 10/deadline March 16/simplified)
-- French company Avril Pole Animal and German meat product processor Tonnies International Holding to set up a joint venture (notified Feb. 10/deadline March 16/simplified)
MARCH 17 -- British plastic packaging company RPC Group RPC.L to acquire French bottle-top maker Global Closure Systems (notified Feb. 11/deadline March 17/simplified)
MARCH 18 -- U.S. car parts distributor LKQ Corp LKQ.O to acquire Italy's Rhiag Group from private equity firm Apax Partners LLP (notified Feb. 12/deadline March 18)
MARCH 22 -- Private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe to acquire car parts maker Mecaplast Group (notified Feb. 16/deadline March 22/simplified)
-- Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin producer Indorama Netherlands to acquire Guadarranque Polyester (notified Feb. 16/deadline March 22)
-- Private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe SAS to acquire car parts maker Mecaplast Group (notified Feb. 16/deadline March 22/simplified)
MARCH 30 -- CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd 0001.HK and Vimpelcom VIP.O to merge their Italian mobile operations (notified Feb. 5/deadline extended to March 30 from March 11 after the Italian competition authority requested to take over the case)
-- Japanese employment agency Recruit 6098.T to acquire Dutch peer USG People USGP.AS (notified Feb. 19/deadline March 30/simplified)
APRIL 1 -- British rivate equity firm Bridgepoint Group to acquire Polish children's apparel and toy store chain SMYK Group (notified Feb. 23/deadline April 1/simplified)
APRIL 22 -- Hutchison Whampoa 0001.HK to acquire Telefonica's TEF.MC O2 UK subsidiary (notified Sept. 11/deadline extended for the fifth time to April 22 from April 18)
JULY 12 -- Airbus Safran Launchers, a 50/50 joint venture between Airbus AIR.PA and Safran SAF.PA , to acquire sole control of satellite group Arianespace (notified on Jan. 8/deadline extended to July 12 from Feb. 26 after the Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
SUSPENDED -- Oilfield services provider Halliburton HAL.N to buy rival Baker Hughes BHI.N in a stock and cash transaction (notified Nov. 27/deadline suspended on Feb. 18 after companies failed to provide some information)
-- SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state energy company, to buy stakes in Greek natural gas grid operator DESFA from Greek natural gas utility DEPA (notified Oct. 1/deadline suspended on Jan. 21)
GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESS
DEADLINES: The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company's proposed remedies or an EU member state's request to handle the case.
Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.
SIMPLIFIED: Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved.
Add to My Watchlist
What is My Watchlist?