EU mergers and takeovers (March 27)

MIG Holdings SA

27/03/2013 11:42

BRUSSELS, March 27 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

-- Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial  FER.MC  to buy British utility services company Enterprise Plc (approved March 25)

-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs  GS.N  and private equity firm TPG Lundy to acquire joint control of British electronics parts maker Exception Group Ltd, which is controlled by British bank Lloyds  LLOY.L  (approved March 25)

NEW LISTINGS

None

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

-- Swedish refiner Nynas to purchase certain assets from Royal Dutch Shell's  RDSa.L  Harburg refinery (notified Feb. 19/deadline extended to Aug. 8 from March 26 after the Commission opens an in-depth investigation)

-- Greek carrier Aegean Airlines  AGNr.AT  to buy Olympic Air  MRFr.AT  (notified Feb. 28/deadline extended to April 23 from April 9 after Aegean offered commitments)

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

APRIL 4

-- Private equity funds Ratos  RATOb.ST  and Ferd to acquire joint control of Norwegian oil platform construction company Aibel Group (notified Feb. 25/deadline April 4/simplified)

-- German carmaker Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE  to acquire joint control of car leasing company Ron Equipment Rental & Lease, which is a unit of car distributor Pon Holdings BV (notified Feb. 25/deadline April 4)

APRIL 5

-- German media company Bertelsmann  BTGGg.F  and Britain's Pearson  PSON.L  to merge their publishers Random House and Penguin (notified Feb 26/deadline April 5)

APRIL 8

-- Investment fund Oaktree to buy construction company Countryside (notified Feb. 27/deadline April 8)

APRIL 10

-- U.S. carmaker General Motors  GM.N  to acquire sole control of diesel engine maker Ispol, which is now jointly controlled by GM and Isuzu Motors  7202.T  (notified March 1/deadline April 10/simplified)

APRIL 12

-- Dutch dairy company FrieslandCampina to buy Dutch cheese wholesalers Zijerveld & Veldhuyzen B.V. and Den Hollander B.V. (notified Feb. 19/deadline extended to April 12 from March 26 after FrieslandCampina offered concessions)

-- French energy network manager ERDF, which is a unit of French power company EDF  EDF.PA , French state-owned bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDS), and electricity company UEM to set up a software joint venture (March 5/April 12/simplified)

APRIL 14

-- Polish lender Alior Bank  ALRR.WA  and Austria's Erste Group Bank  ERST.VI  to acquire joint control of Polish personal care products retailer Polbita (notified March 8/deadline April 14/simplified)

APRIL 15

-- U.S. cable group Liberty Global  LBTYA.O  to acquire British peer Virgin Media  VMED.O  (notified March 6/deadline April 15)

APRIL 16

-- U.S. conglomerate General Electric  GE.N  and German reinsurer Munich Re  MUVGn.DE  to acquire joint control of Spanish energy company Iberdrola's  IBE.MC  wind power operator Iberdrola Renovables France (notified March 7/deadline April 16/simplified)

APRIL 17

-- U.S. oilfield equipment maker Cameron International Corp

CAM.N  and U.S. oilfield services company Schlumberger  SLB.N  to combine their subsea businesses (notified March 8/deadline April 17)

APRIL 19

-- German engineering company Siemens  SIEGn.DE  to buy British technology company Invensys'  ISYS.L  rail business (notified March 12/deadline April 19)

APRIL 22

-- Japanese trading house Mitsui Group  8031.T  to acquire stake in Spanish autoparts maker Gestamp Automocion joint control of Gestamp Automocio's U.S. businesses (notified March 13/deadline April 22/simplified)

-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs  GS.N  and private equity firm TPG Lundy to buy British real estate developer Tulloch Homes Group from British lender Lloyds Bank  LLOY.L  (notified Feb. 13/deadline April 22)

APRIL 23

-- U.S. ceramic tile maker Mohawk Industries to acquire panel board maker Spano Invest, which is majority-owned by Belgian holding company Ackermans & Van Haaren  ACKB.BR  (notified March 14/deadline April 23)

APRIL 25

-- Private equity firms Bridgepoint Advisers Group Ltd

BRDG.UL  and Orlando Italy Management S.A. to acquire Italian perfume distributor Bergamotto (notified March 18/deadline April 25/simplified)

-- Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro  NHY.OL  and Norwegian peer Orkla  ORK.OL  to merge their extruded aluminium units via a joint venture (notified March 18/deadline April 25)

APRIL 26

-- German optical technology company Carl Zeiss  CZTOP.UL  to acquire sole control of eyewear maker Carl Zeiss Vision Holding GmbH  CZTOPI.UL  (notified March 19/deadline April 26/simplified)

APRIL 30

-- German rail operator Deutsche Bahn  DBN.UL  to acquire sole control of eastern European bus services company Veolia Transport Central Europe which is a majority-owned unit of French transport company Veolia Transport Transdev Group

VIE.PA  (notified March 21/deadline April 30)

MAY 30

-- U.S. communications company Syniverse Technologies

SVRTE.UL  to buy Luxembourg-based communications services company Mach (notified Nov. 16/deadline extended for the second time to May 30 from May 15 after the companies asked for more time)

JUNE 7

-- Finnish paper producer Ahlstrom  AHL1V.HE  to merge with a unit of Swedish company Munksjo, which is partly owned by private equity fund EQT (notified Oct. 31/deadline extended for the second time to June 7 from May 16 after Ahlstrom offered concessions)

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.

(Editing by Foo Yun Chee)

((brussels.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)(+32-2-287-6830))

Keywords: EU MERGERS/TAKEOVERS