EU mergers and takeovers (April 19)

Telogica

19/04/2013 11:21

BRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

-- German engineering company Siemens  SIEGn.DE  to buy British technology company Invensys'  ISYS.L  rail business (approved April 18)

NEW LISTINGS

-- Otsuka Pharmaceutical, which is a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co  4578.T , and Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co

8031.T  to acquire stakes in Claris Otsuka Ltd which is owned by Indian drugmaker Claris Lifesciences Ltd  CLAI.BO  (notified April 18/deadline May 29/simplified)

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

-- 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 extended to May 14 from April 25 after Norsk Hydro offered concessions)

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

APRIL 22

-- 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)

-- 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)

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)

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 7

-- Dutch insurer Aegon  AEGN.AS  to acquire Spanish bank Santander's  SAN.MC  insurance subsidiaries Santander Vida and Santander Generales (notified March 27/deadline May 7)

MAY 8

-- RAG trust and buyout firm CVC Capital Partners  CVC.UL  to sell part of their shares in German chemicals company Evonik Industries  RAGES.UL  (notified April 2/deadline May 8/simplified)

-- Distributor Export Trading Company Holdings (ETC), SCPE, which is the private equity arm of British bank Standard Chartered  STAN.L , investment funds Pemgrofund and Carlyle Commodities to acquire joint control of ETC Group (notified April 2/deadline May 8/simplified)

MAY 13

-- Food processor McCain Foods Group to buy potato products supplier Lutosa Business (notified April 3/deadline May 13)

MAY 15

-- Warner Music Group, which is owned by Access Industries Inc, to acquire Parlophone Label Group from Vivendi's  VIV.PA  Universal Music Group (notified April 5/deadline May 15)

MAY 16

-- Private equity firm Rhone Capital to purchase bakery products maker CSM Bakery Supplies (notified April 8/deadline May 16/simplified)

-- Czech group Agrofert to buy Italian pasta maker Barilla's German bakery chain Lieken AG (notified April 8/deadline May 16/simplified)

MAY 17

-- French insurer Sogecap, which is part of French bank Societe Generale  SOGN.PA , and Cardif Assurance Vie, which is a subsidiary of French bank BNP Paribas  BNPP.PA , to jointly acquire a real estate developer (notified April 9/deadline May 17)

-- Swedish truck maker Volvo  VOLVb.ST  to set up a joint venture with China's Dongfeng Motor Group Co  0489.HK  (notified April 9/deadline May 17/simplified)

-- Australian warehouse operator Goodman Group  GMG.AX  to acquire a stake in a container terminal owned by ports operator DP World Limited  DPW.DI , which is part of Dubai World

DBWLD.UL  (notified Aprill 9/deadline May 17/simplified)

MAY 27

-- Tokia Rubber  5191.T , which is a subsidiary of Sumitomo Electric Industries  5802.T , to buy car parts maker Anvis Group GmbH from H.I.G. Capital (notified April 16/deadline May 27)

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)

SEPT 6

-- Swedish refiner Nynas to purchase certain assets from Royal Dutch Shell's  RDSa.L  Harburg refinery (notified Feb. 19/deadline extended for the second time to Sept. 6 from Aug. 8)

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