EU mergers and takeovers (Sept 24)
24/09/2018 12:04
BRUSSELS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The following are mergers
under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the
EU merger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
-- German project group Steag and German engineering company
Siemens SIEGn.DE take joint control of a power plan in Herne,
western Germany (approved Sept. 21)
-- German asphalt maker Deutsche Asphalt, which is a
subsidiary of Austrian construction company Strabag STRV.VI ,
and German road construction company Bunte to set up a joint
venture (approved Sept. 21)
-- Germany's Vossloh and Austria's Rhomberg Sersa Rail
Holding to set up a railway technology joint venture (approved
Sept. 21)
-- Private equity firm EQT Fund Management to acquire
Luxembourg specialty chemicals and food ingredients distributor
Azelis AZELI.UL (approved Sept. 21)
NEW LISTINGS
-- China Huaxin Post and Telecom Technologies Co., Ltd to
establish a joint venture with Netherlands company Juniper
Networks International B.V. JNPR.N to research, manufacture
and sell network switches, routers and security products in
China (notified Sept. 21/deadline Oct. 26/simplified)
-- Private equity fund EQT Fund Management (in its capacity
as alternative investment fund manager of the relevant EQT fund)
to acquire, through a holding vehicle, sole control of French
water and wastewater management company Holding
d’Infrastructures des Métiers de l’Environnement S.A.S., which
indirectly holds 100 percent of the shares and voting rights of
Saur S.A.S. (notified Sept. 21/deadline Oct. 26/simplified)
-- Japanese company Sony Corp. 6758.T to buy majority
control of UK music publishing company EMI Music Publishing
(notified Sept. 21/deadline Oct. 26)
-- French investment bank Bpifrance to buy joint control of
Vallourec Umbilicals with French energy company Vallourec Tubes
(notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25/simplified)
-- U.S. private equity investor Advent International
Corporation to buy shares to gain sole control of Irish
telecommunications, power and transport company KN Group
(notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25/simplified)
-- Hong Kong companies CK Asset Holdings Limited 1113.HK ,
infrastructure company CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited
1038.HK and energy investment company Power Assets Holdings
Limited 0006.HK to buy Australian energy infrastructure
company APA APA.AX (notified Sept. 19/deadline Oct.
24/simplified)
-- Fund managed by private equity firm Bain Capital
Investors LLC to buy Italian specialty chemicals company
Italmatch Chemicals (notified Sept. 19/deadline Oct.
24/simplified)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
None
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
SEPT 27
-- U.S. planemaker Boeing BA.N and French aerospace
company Safran SAF.PA to set up a joint venture to make and
service aircraft auxiliary power units (notified Aug.
23/deadline Sept. 27)
SEPT 28
-- Private equity firm KKR KKR.N and French telecoms
provider Altice NUMCF.PK to acquire joint control of Altice's
French subsidiary SFR Filiale (notified Aug. 24/deadline Sept.
28/simplified)
OCT 3
-- U.S. plane maker Boeing BA.N to acquire aerospace parts
company KLX KLXI.O (notified Aug. 29/deadline Oct. 3)
OCT 4
-- Private equity fund Lone Star to acquire French company
Imerys' IMTP.PA roof tiles business (notified Aug. 30/deadline
Oct. 4/simplified)
OCT 5
-- Boeing BA.N and automotive seat maker Adient ADNT.N
to form a joint venture to make airline seats (notified Aug.
31/deadline Oct. 5)
-- Japanese beverages and pharmaceutical group Kirin
Holdings 2503.T and Japanese trading house Mitsui 8031.T to
acquire joint control of nutritional supplements company Thorne
Holding Corp (notified Aug. 31/deadline Oct. 5/simplified)
OCT 8
-- Swedish mobile operato Tele2 TEL2b.ST to acquire
Swedish cable TV company Com Hem (notified Sept. 3/deadline Oct.
8)
-- Chinese conglomerate CITIC Group CITIC.UL to require a
majority stake in Czech holding group European Bridge Travel,
which controls travel services companies (notified Sept.
3/deadline Oct. 8/simplified)
OCT 9
-- Alphabet's GOOGL.O Verily and ResMed RMD.N to set up
a joint venture (notified Sept. 4/deadline Oct. 9/simplified)
-- Canadian auto parts maker Magna MG.TO to acquire
Italian lighting products maker Olsa (notified Sept. 4/deadline
Oct. 9/simplified)
OCT 10
-- U.S. investment firm KKR KKR.N to acquire joint control
over Singapore property website Property Guru (notified Sept.
5/deadline Oct. 10/simplified)
OCT 11
-- Private investment firm SK Capital Partners to acquire
U.S. specialty chemical company Schenectady International
(notified Sept. 6/deadline Oct. 11)
OCT 12
-- Business process services company Synnex Corp SNX.N to
acquire call center operator Convergys Corp CVG.N (notified
Sept. 7/deadline Oct. 12/simplified)
-- Buy-out firm Cinven to acquire sole control of Italian
insurer Generali Lebensversicherung (notified Sept. 7/deadline
Oct. 12/simplified)
-- German gaming and gambling company Gauselmann GAUS.UL
to take a 33 percent stake and joint control of casino operator
Spielbank Mainz (notified Sept. 7/ deadline Oct. 12/simplified)
-- Investment company Bregal to acquire travel firm
Trendtours Touristik (notified Sept. 7/deadline Oct.
12/simplified)
OCT 15
-- U.S. pet food maker Mars Petcare to acquire European
veterinary business Anicura (notified Sept. 10/deadline Oct. 15)
-- Qatar Petroleum QATPE.UL to acquire a 30 percent stake
in two of Exxon Mobil's XOM.N affiliates in Argentina
(notified Sept. 10/deadline Oct. 15/simplified)
OCT 16
-- French equity firm PAI Partners to acquire board game
publisher Asmodee (notified Sept. 11/deadline Oct.
16/simplified)
-- Japanese industrial gas supplier Taiyo Nippon Sanso
4091.T to acquire U.S. industrial gas company Praxair's PX.N
European business (notified Sept. 11/deadline Oct. 16)
OCT 17
-- Semiconductor company Broadcom AVGO.O to acquire
technology company CA CA.O (notified Sept. 12/deadline Oct.
17/simplified)
-- 3i Infrastructure 3IN.L and Danish pension company ATP
to invest in telecoms operator Tampnet (notitied Sept.
12/deadline Oct. 17/simplified)
-- Private equity company the Carlyle Group CG.O to
acquire interest in U.S. broadcast services company NEP Group
NEPG.N (notified Sept. 12/deadline Oct. 17/simplified)
OCT 18
-- Morgan Stanley Infrastructure MS.N to acquire German
rail logistics group VTG VT9G.DE (notified Sept. 13/deadline
Oct. 18/simplified)
OCT 19
-- Italian and U.S.-based private equity firms the Carlyle
Group CG.O and Investindustrial to acquire furniture maker B&B
Italia and lighting companies Flos and Louis Poulsen (notified
Sept. 14/deadline Oct. 19/simplified)
-- German industrial gas company Messer Group and private
equity group CVC CVC.AX to acquire certain assets from German
chemical company Linde Group (notified Sept. 14/deadline Oct.
19/simplified)
-- U.S. software company Microsoft Corp MSFT.O to buy
privately held coding website GitHub Inc (notified Sept.
14/deadline Oct. 19)
-- Walt Disney Co DIS.N to buy the bulk of Twenty-First
Century Fox Inc's FOXA.O film and television assets (notified
Sept. 14/deadline Oct. 19)
OCT 22
-- U.S. computer and printer maker HP Inc HPQ.N to buy
U.K.-based office equipment dealer Apogee Corp (notified Sept.
17/deadline Oct. 22)
-- Private equity fund Lone Star to buy Spanish company
CaixaBank's CABK.MC real estate assets (notified Sept.
17/deadline Oct. 22)
-- Shipping group CMA CGM CMACG.UL to acquire shipping and
logistics company Container Finance's holdings in Multi-Link
Terminals Ltd and CD Holding Oy (notified Sept. 17/deadline Oct.
22)
-- U.S. aircraft parts maker Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc
SPR.N to acquire EU-based supplier Asco Industries NV
(notified Sept. 17/deadline Oct. 22)
-- German luxury carmakers Daimler DAIGn.DE and BMW
BMWG.DE to launch a car-sharing joint venture (notified Sept.
17/deadline Oct. 22)
OCT 23
-- U.S. travel and restaurent reservation and related
services company Booking Holdings Inc BKNG.O to buy Australian
hotel metasearch site HotelsCombined (notified Sept. 18/deadline
Oct. 23)
OCT 25
-- U.S. private equity investor Bain Capital Private Equity
to buy UK insurance service company esure Group ESUR.L
(notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25/simplified)
NOV 30
-- Deutsche Telekom DTEGn.DE to acquire Swedish peer
Tele2's TEL2b.ST Dutch unit and merge it with its Dutch
business T-Mobile Nederland (notified May 2/deadline Nov. 30
after deadline suspension ended Aug. 6)
DEC 13
-- Copper company KME, which is part of Intek Group
IKG.MI , to acquire German peer MKM Mansfelder Kupfer and
Messing GmbH (notified June 4/deadline Dec. 13)
DEC 18
-- German company BASF BASFn.DE to acquire Belgian
chemicals company Solvay's SOLB.BR worldwide polyamide
business (notified May 22/deadline Dec. 18)
JAN 3
-- German copper products maker Wieland-Werke to acquire
German copper smelter Aurubis' NAFG.DE flat rolled products
unit Products Schwermetall (notified June 13/deadline Jan. 3)
JAN 8
-- French aerospace and defence group Thales TCFP.PA to
acquire Franco-Dutch chipmaker Gemalto GTO.AS (notified June
18/deadline Jan. 8)
JAN 28
-- Siemens SIEGn.DE and Alstom ALSO.PA to merge their
railway operations (notified June 8/deadline Jan. 28)
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.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis)
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