EU mergers and takeovers (April 1)

Centaurus Energy

01/04/2015 18:42

BRUSSELS, April 1 (Reuters) - The following are mergers 
under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the 
EU merger process: 
     
    APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS 
    -- AR Packaging Group to buy U.S. packaging company 
MeadWestvaco Corp's  MWV.N  European tobacco and general 
packaging folding carton operations (approved March 31) 
    -- Bermuda-based insurance holding company Athene Holding 
Ltd, which is controlled by private investment firm Apollo, to 
acquire Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd's  DLL.AS  German subsidiaries 
(approved March 31)  
    -- German publishers Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and 
Springer Science+Business Media, which is owned by private 
equity investor BC Partners, to set up a joint venture (approved 
March 31) 
    -- German refiner Varo Energy Holding GmbH to acquire German 
oil products distributor Gekol (approved March 31)    
                 
    NEW LISTINGS 
    -- Japanese electronics group Hitachi  6501.T  to acquire 
Italian train maker AnsaldoBreda and its rail-signalling company 
Ansaldo STS  STS.MI  from Italian aerospace and defence group 
Finmeccanica  SIFI.MI  (notified March 31/deadline May 
11/simplified) 
                                                             
    EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES 
    None  
                                      
    FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE  
     
    APRIL 8 
    -- Norwegian telecoms company Telenor  TEL.OL  and Swedish 
peer TeliaSonera  TLSN.ST  to combine their Danish mobile 
businesses (notified Feb. 27/deadline April 8) 
     
    APRIL 9 
    -- U.S. flooring products maker Mohawk Industries Inc 
 MHK.N  to acquire Luxembourg-based International Flooring 
Systems (notified March 2/deadline April 9) 
     
    APIRL 10 
    -- Chinese state-owned steelmaker Hebei Iron & Steel Group 
to acquire a controlling stake in Swiss steel product trader 
from DPH Duferco International Trading Holding (notified March 
3/deadline April 10/simplified) 
             
    APRIL 14 
    -- German insurer Allianz  ALVG.DE , Canadian investment 
fund manager Alberta Investment Management Corp and Utilities 
Trust of Australia to acquire joint control of railway rolling 
stock producer Porterbrook (notified March 5/deadline April 
14/simplified) 
     
    APRIL 15 
    -- Private equity firm Riverstone  RVHL.SI  and British bank 
Barclays  BARC.L  to jointly acquire oil producer Origo 
(notified March 6/deadline April 15/simplified) 
         
    APRIL 16 
    -- Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd 
 1038.HK  to purchase British rail rolling stock company 
Eversholt Rail (notified March 9/deadline April 16/simplified) 
         
    APRIL 17 
    -- Spanish oil company Repsol  REP.MC  to acquire Canadian 
oil and gas producer Talisman Energy Inc.  TLM.TO  (notified 
March 10/deadline April 17/simplified) 
     
    APRIL 20 
    -- Finnish ship engine and power plant maker Wartsila 
 WRT1V.HE  to buy navigation systems maker L-3 Marine Systems 
from L-3 Holding  LLL.N  (notified March 11/deadline April 
20/simplified) 
    -- Telecoms group Altice  ATCE.AS  to acquire Brazilian peer 
Grupo Oi's  OIBR3.SA  Portuguese assets (notified Feb. 
25/deadline April 20/concessions offered April 20/Portuguese 
competition authority asked to review the case on March 5) 
     
    APRIL 21 
    -- Private equity firms Ardian France and F2i SGR to acquire 
joint control of investor F2i Aeroporti which holds stakes in 
companies operating at Italian airports (notified March 
12/deadline April 21) 
     
    APRIL 23 
    -- German industrial services group Bilfinger  GBFG.DE  and 
merchandising and management services provider Papstar Holding 
AG to set up a joint venture (notified March 16/deadline April 
23/simplified) 
     
    APRIL 27 
    -- U.S. bank Goldman Sachs  GS.N  and French property 
developer Altarea  IMAF.PA  to jointly acquire French holding 
company Pascal Defense S.A.R.L. (notified March 18/deadline 
April 27/simplified) 
    -- Irish cement firm CRH  CRH.I  to buy assets from merging 
companies Lafarge  LAFP.PA  and Holcim  HOLN.VX  (notified March 
18/deadline April 27) 
     
    APRIL 28 
    -- Canadian public pension fund Caisse de Depot du Placement 
du Quebec and British asset manager Hermes to acquire 40 percent 
of British high-speed rail Eurostar International Ltd, which is 
55 percent owned by French rail operator SNCF Mobilities 
(notified March 19/deadline April 28) 
     
    APRIL 29 
    -- Austrian property developer CA Immo  CAIV.VI  to acquire 
control of Austrian peer Immofinanz  IMFI.VI  (notified March 
20/deadline April 29/simplified) 
     
    APRIL 30 
    -- German agricultural products distributor Baywa 
 BYWGnx.DE , German electric heating producer GlenDimplex and 
German energy software developer Greencom to acquire shares in 
energy services provider BEEGY GmbH (notified March 23/deadline 
April 30/simplified) 
     
    MAY 5 
    -- Qatari-backed investor Constellation Hotels to acquire 
InterContinental Hotels Group's  IHG.L  flagship Le Grand hotel 
in Paris (notified March 25/deadline May 5/simplified) 
    -- U.S. conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway  BRKa.N  to acquire 
German motorcycle apparel and accessories retailer Detlev Louis 
Motrorrad-Vertriebs GmbH (notified March 25/deadline May 
5/simplified) 
     
    MAY 7 
    -- MI Fashion Ltd and L Capital Asia 2 Pte Ltd to acquire 
joint control of clothing retailer Pepe Jeans Group (notified 
March 27/deadline May 7/simplified) 
     
    JUNE 1 
    -- French telecoms operator Orange  ORAN.PA  to acquire 
Spanish provider Jazztel  JAZ.MC  (notified Oct. 16/new deadline 
June 1 after Commission lifts deadline suspension) 
    -- Mondelez International Inc  MDLZ.O  and competitor D.E 
Master Blenders  DEMBF.PK  to merge their coffee businesses in 
new company called Jacobs Douwe Egberts (notified Oct. 
27/deadline extended for the fourth time to June 1 from May 13) 
     
    JUNE 26 
    -- PRS for Music Ltd (PRSfM), Foreningen Svenska Tonsattares 
Internationella Mysikbyra (Stim) and Gesellschaft für 
musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische 
Vervielfältigungsrechte (Gema) to set up a joint venture to 
administer mechanical and performing rights (notified Nov. 
28/deadline June 26/companies offer commitments on March 13)  
     
    JULY 8 
    -- Commodities trader Cargill  CARG.UL  to buy rival Archer 
Daniels Midland Co's  ADM.N  global chocolate business (notified 
Jan. 19/deadline extended to July 8 from Feb. 23 after the 
European Commission opened an in-depth investigation) 
         
    AUG 6 
    -- U.S. conglomerate General Electric  GE.N  to acquire most 
of French engineering group Alstom's  ALSO.PA  power equipment 
business (notified Jan. 19/deadline extended for the second time 
to Aug. 6 from July 8 after GE asked for more time) 
     
    SUSPENDED 
    -- German conglomerate Siemens  SIEGn.DE  to purchase U.S. 
oilfield equipment maker Dresser-Rand Group Inc  DRC.N  
(notified Jan. 9/deadline suspended on March 19 following a 
request for 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. 
 
 (Compiled by Foo Yun Chee) 
 ((Brussels newsroom; +32 2 287 68 30; 
brussels.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)) 
 
Keywords: EU MERGERS/