EU mergers and takeovers (March 11)

Riverstone Holdings

11/03/2015 16:15

BRUSSELS, March 11 (Reuters) - The following are mergers 
under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the 
EU merger process: 
     
    APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS 
    None 
                 
    NEW LISTINGS 
    -- 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) 
    -- 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) 
                                                             
    EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES 
    -- 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)    
                                      
    FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE  
     
    MARCH 12 
    -- German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen  ZFF.UL  to buy 
U.S. peer TRW Automotive Holdings Corp  TRW.N  (notified Jan. 
22/deadline extended to March 12 from Feb. 26 after ZF submitted 
concessions) 
                 
    MARCH 13 
    -- British insurer Aviva  AV.L  to acquire rival Friends 
Life  FLG.L  (notified Feb. 6/deadline March 13) 
    -- U.S. medical equipment supplier Becton Dickinson & Co 
 BDX.N  to purchase U.S. maker of infusion pumps and other 
medical devices CareFusion Corp  CFN.N  (notified Feb. 
6/deadline March 13) 
     
    MARCH 16 
    -- Irish building products group Kingspan  KSP.I  to acquire 
Belgian holding company Steel Partners NV, which owns Belgian 
insulated panels maker Joris Ide Group (notified Feb. 9/deadline 
March 16) 
    -- Irish drugmaker Actavis  ACT.N  to acquire botox maker 
Allergan  AGN.N  (notified Feb. 9/deadline March 16) 
     
    MARCH 17 
    -- Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp  6752.T  and 
holding company Ficosa Inversion, which currently has sole 
control of Ficosa International, to acquire joint control of 
Spanish car parts maker Ficosa International  FICOS.UL  
(notified Feb. 10/deadline March 17/simplified) 
     
    MARCH 18 
    -- Abellio, the international unit of Dutch state-owned rail 
company NS, to take control of the ScotRail rail services in 
Scotland (notified Feb. 11/deadline March 18) 
    -- British support services group DCC  DCC.L  to buy Esso's 
 ESSF.PA  French motorway retail network (notified Feb. 
2/deadline March 18/simplified) 
     
    MARCH 20 
    -- Luxembourg-based steel producer ArcelorMittal  ISPA.AS  
and Italian peer Coils Lamiere Nastri SpA to form a joint 
venture (notified Feb. 13/deadline March 20) 
     
    MARCH 23 
    -- French investment company Wendel S.A.  MWDP.PA  to aquire 
 Austrian packager Constantia Flexibles (notified Feb. 
16/deadline March 23/simplified) 
     
    MARCH 24 
    -- The Carlyle Group  CG.O  and Chinese state-owned 
financial group Citic  CITIC.UL  to jointly acquire AsiaSat 
(notified Feb. 17/deadline March 24/simplified)     
     
    MARCH 25 
    -- IFM Global Infrastructure Fund and Mexican builder OHL 
Mexico S.A.B. de C.V.  OHLMEX.MX  to jointly control Mexican 
toll road operator Concesionaria Mexiquense (ConMex) (notified 
Feb. 18/deadline March 25/simplified) 
     
    MARCH 30 
    -- China Shipbuilding Power Engineering Institute, which is 
part of Chinese group China State Shipbuilding Corporation, and 
Finnish ship engine and power plant maker Wartsila  WRT1V.HE  to 
set up a joint venture (notified Feb. 23/deadline March 
30/simplified) 
     
    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 (notified 
FEb. 24/deadline March 31) 
     
    APRIL 7 
    -- Investment fund Apax Partners to acquire chemicals 
distributor Azelis (notified Feb. 26/deadline April 
7/simplified) 
    -- Private equity firms the Blackstone Group  BX.N  and TPG 
Global to jointly acquire British financial services providers 
Acenden Ltd and AMS Decisions Advisers (notified Feb. 
26/deadline April 7/simplified) 
    -- South African furniture retailer Steinhoff  SHFJ.J  to 
acquire local apparel firm Pepkor (notified Feb. 26/deadline 
April 7/simplified) 
    -- German insurer Talanx  TLXGn.DE  and Portuguese 
Mota-Engil  MOTA.LS  to jointly acquire Portuguese company 
Indaqua Industry and Water Management SA (notified Feb. 
26/deadline April 7/simplified) 
     
    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 
    -- Private equity firm PAI to acquire Dutch clothing and 
footwear retailer Lion Adventure (notified March 2/deadline 
April 9/simplified) 
    -- 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) 
    -- U.S. card payment services provider American Express 
 AXP.N  and Swiss bank Credit Suisse  CSGN.VX  to restructure 
their Swiss and Liechtenstein joint venture (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 
    -- AR Packaging Group to buy U.S. packaging company 
MeadWestvaco Corp's  MWV.N  European tobacco and general 
packaging folding carton operations (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) 
    -- German refiner Varo Energy Holding GmbH to acquire German 
oil products distributor Gekol (notified March 9/deadline April 
16/simplified) 
         
    APRIL 30 
    -- French telecoms operator Orange  ORAN.PA  to acquire 
Spanish provider Jazztel  JAZ.MC  (notified Oct. 16/deadline 
extended to April 30 from April 24 after the Commission resumed 
its scrutiny after a four-day halt/Orange offered commitments on 
March 6)  
         
    MAY 26 
    -- U.S. orthopaedic products maker Zimmer Holdings  ZMH.N  
to acquire rival Biomet Inc  LVBHAB.UL  (notified Aug. 
29/deadline May 26 after the companies revised their 
concessions) 
     
    JUNE 1 
    -- 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 extended for the third time to June 26 from May 29)  
     
    JULY 8 
    -- 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 to July 8 from Feb. 
23 after the European Commission opened an in-depth 
investigation) 
    -- 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) 
     
    JULY 14 
    -- German conglomerate Siemens  SIEGn.DE  to purchase U.S. 
oilfield equipment maker Dresser-Rand Group Inc  DRC.N  
(notified Jan. 9/deadline extended for the second time to July 
14 from June 30) 
     
    SUSPENDED 
    -- 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 Philip Blenkinsop) 
 ((Brussels newsroom; +32 2 287 68 30; 
brussels.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)) 
 
Keywords: EU MERGERS/