EU mergers and takeovers (Nov 29)

Vilmorin & Cie SA

29/11/2016 14:28

BRUSSELS, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under 
review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU 
merger process: 
     
    APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS 
    -- Private equity firm Nordic Capital and a group of 
investors to jointly acquire Swedish online bank Nordnet 
 NNb.ST  (approved Nov. 29) 
    -- U.S. private equity firm Towerbrook Capital Partners to 
acquire Dutch company Van Dijk Educatie Beheer B.V. (approved 
Nov. 28) 
    -- French tire maker Michelin  MICP.PA  and Limagrain, which 
is part of holding company and seed producer Vilmorin & Cie, 
 VILM.PA  to jointly acquire French engineering company Exotic 
Systems (approved Nov. 28) 
 
    NEW LISTINGS 
    -- Venture capital company Rockaway Capital SE, energy 
company EC Investments and Czech financial services company PPF 
Group N.V. PPFGP.UL  to create online shopping joint venture 
Sully System  (notified Nov. 25/deadline Jan. 9/simplified) 
    -- French automotive manufacturer Groupe PSA  PEUP.PA  to 
take control of French second-hand car distributor Groupe Aramis 
(notified Nov. 28/deadline Jan. 10/simplified) 
         
    EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES 
    None 
     
    FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE 
     
    NOV 30 
    -- French car parts supplier Valeo  VLOF.PA  to acquire 
German clutch maker FTE Group (notified Oct. 10/deadline 
extended to Nov. 30 from Nov. 16 after Valeo offered 
concessions) 
     
    DEC 2 
    -- U.S. chemicals group Riechhold  REICH.UL  and Black 
Diamond Capital to acquire Italian polymers maker Polynt 
 ININDY.UL  which is owned by Italian private equity group 
Investindustrial (notified Oct. 26/deadline Dec. 2) 
     
    DEC 6 
    -- U.S. software company Microsoft  MSFT.O  to acquire 
social network LinkedIn  LNKD.N  (notified Oct. 14/deadline 
extended to Dec. 6 from Nov. 22 after concessions offered) 
     
    DEC 8 
    -- Chinese aviation and shipping group HNA Group to acquire 
a stake in Air France-KLM's  AIRF.PA  catering business Servair 
(notified Nov. 3/deadline Dec. 8) 
     
    DEC 13 
    -- Investment company Egeria Industrials to acquire 
packaging maker Clondalkin Industries  CLOGHI.UL  (notified Nov. 
8/deadline Dec. 13/simplified) 
    -- Japanese company Nidec Corp  6594.T  to acquire U.S. 
factory automation equipment maker Emerson Electric's  EMR.N  
motors and electric power division (notified Nov. 8/deadline 
Dec. 13/simplified) 
    -- NEC Corp  6701.T  and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp 
 SUMFGI.UL  to jointly acquire Japanese joint venture Brees Corp 
(notified Nov. 8/deadline Dec. 13/simplified) 
    -- Swedish lender Nordea Bank  NDA.ST  and Norwegian 
financial group DNB Bank ASA  BEAROBOSXDN.OL  to jointly acquire 
Swedish technology company Relacom Management (notified Nov. 
8/deadline Dec. 13/simplified) 
    -- French insurer Axa  AXAF.PA  and Danish public pension 
fund Arbejdsmarkedets Tillagspension to jointly acquire a Dutch 
hotel (notified Nov. 8/deadline Dec. 13/simplified) 
     
    DEC 14 
    -- Chinese industrial group Northeast Industries Group Co 
Lt, which is controlled by Chinese conglomerate North Industries 
Group Corp (Norinco)  CNIGC.UL , to acquire Delphi's 
mechatronics business (notified Nov. 9/deadline Dec. 
14/simplified) 
    -- Portuguese transport infrastructure company Brisa 
 BAEP.UL  and Spanish retailer Areas, which manages concession 
spaces in transport hubs, will create joint venture BAS to take 
over food activities in designated service areas in 
Portugal(notified Nov. 9/deadline Dec. 14/simplified) 
     
    DEC 15 
     -- Italian utility Enel  ENEI.MI  to acquire Italian 
fibre-optic company Metroweb which will merge with Enel Open 
Fiber, a joint venture with Italian state lender Cassa Depositi 
e Prestiti (CDP) (notified Nov. 10/deadline Dec. 15/simplified) 
     
    DEC 16 
     -- French naval defence company DCNS and French fund SPI to 
take joint control of DCNS Energies (notified Nov. 11/deadline 
Dec. 16/simplified) 
    -- French companies Engie Futures Energies  ENGIE.PA , Omnes 
Capital and Predica Prevoyance Dialogue du Credit Agricole to 
jointly control French wind farm company Maia Eolis, previously 
controlled exclusively by Engie Futures Energies (notified Nov. 
11/deadline Dec. 16/simplified) 
    -- French group Danone  DANO.PA  to acquire U.S. organic 
foods producer WhiteWave Foods Co  WWAV.N  (notified Oct. 
26/deadline extended to Dec. 16 from Dec. 2 after concessions 
offered) 
     
    DEC 19 
    -- Germany's Deutsche Post AG  DPWGn.DE  to acquire UK 
postal operator UK Mail Group  UKM.L  (notified Nov. 14/deadline 
Dec. 19/simplified) 
     
    DEC 20 
    -- UK retail property developer Hammerson  HMSO.L  and Irish 
life insurance and pension company Irish Life 
Assurance IPMLA.UL  to jointly acquire Ilac Shopping Centre in 
Dublin (notified 15/deadline Dec. 20/simplified) 
     
    DEC 21 
    -- Irish technology distribution company Exertis, which is 
part of DCC PLC  DCC.L , to acquire UK data-storage company 
Hammer (notified Nov. 16/deadline Dec. 21) 
    -- Spanish publisher Grupo Planeta and Italian publisher De 
Agostini Libri to form joint venture publishing company DeA 
Planeta Libri in Italy (notified Nov. 16/deadline Dec. 
21/simplified) 
    -- Funds managed by U.S. asset management company Bain 
Capital to acquire U.S. automotive business services provider 
MSX International  MSXIN.UL  (notified Nov. 16/deadline Dec. 
21/simplified) 
     
    DEC 22 
    -- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services (HPES), IT services 
business of Hewlett Packard Enterprises  HPE.N , to acquire U.S. 
IT services group Computer Sciences Corp  CSC.N  (notified Nov. 
17/deadline Dec. 22/simplified) 
    -- Coca Cola Company  KO.N  to buy 50 percent stake in 
Lithuanian mineral water producer Neptuno Vandenys from Coca 
Cola Hellenic Bottling Company  CCH.L  (notified Nov. 
17/deadline Dec. 22) 
    -- Verizon Communications  VZ.N  to acquire U.S. internet 
company Yahoo  YHOO.O  (notified Nov. 17/deadline Dec. 22) 
     
    DEC 23  
    -- Asset management company The Carlyle Group  CG.O  to 
acquire German public holding company KAP-Beteiligungs AG 
(notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23/simplified) 
    -- Investment company Aurelius Group to acquire U.S. office 
supplies retailer Office Depot's  ODP.O  European operations 
(notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23/simplified) 
    -- German financial services company Allianz  ALVG.DE  and 
Dutch insurance company NN Group  NN.AS  to acquire joint 
control over German student housing company The FIZZ. (notified 
Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23/simplified) 
     
    JAN 3 
    -- Luxembourg insurance company Allianz Infrastructure 
Luxembourg I  ALVG.DE  and UK fund management copmany Dalmore 
Capital to jointly acquire UK infrastructure provider Bazalgette 
Equity Limited. (notified Nov. 21/deadline Jan. 3/simplified) 
     
    JAN 4 
    -- Private equity firms CVC  CVC.UL  and Cinven  CINV.UL  to 
jointly acquire Luxembourg-based credit card provider NewDay 
Group Holdings  (notified Nov. 22/deadline Jan. 4/simplified) 
    -- U.S. car sealing and thermal management products Dana 
 DAN.N  to acquire transmissions and hydraulic and electronic 
parts maker Brevini Group's fluid power and power transmission 
units (notified Nov. 22/deadline Jan. 4/simplified) 
     
    JAN 5 
    -- UK engineering company Smiths Group  SMIN.L  to acquire 
U.S.-based Morpho Detection from French aerospace company Safran 
 SAF.PA  (notified Nov. 23/deadline Jan. 5) 
    -- Private equity firms Cinven  CINV.UL , Permira and Mid 
Europa to acquire Polish e-commerce business Allegro and Polish 
price comparison website Ceneo from South African media and 
e-commerce company Naspers (notified Nov. 23/deadline Jan. 
5/simplified) 
     
    JAN 9 
    -- Czech e-commerce services company Rockaway Capital SE, 
energy company EC Investments and Czech financial services 
company PPF Group N.V. to acquire Sully system, which will act 
as a holding company. (notified Nov. 25/deadline Jan. 
9/simplified) 
     
    JAN 10 
    -- French automotive manufacturer Groupe PSA to acquire 
French tourism vehicle distributor Groupe Aramis. (notified Nov. 
28/deadline Jan. 10/simplified)    
         
    FEB 13 
    -- Deutsche Boerse  DB1Gn.DE  and the London Stock Exchange 
 LSE.L  plan to merge (notified Aug. 24/deadline extended to 
March 6 from Feb. 13 after the companies asked for more time) 
     
    FEB 23 
    -- German cement producers Heidelbergcement  HEIG.DE  and 
Schwenk to jointly acquire Mexican peer Cemex's  CMXCPO.MX  
Croatian unit (notified Sept. 5/deadline extended to Feb. 23 
from Oct. 10 after the European Commission opened an in-depth 
investigation) 
     
    FEB 28 
    -- U.S. chemicals company Dow Chemical  DOW.N  to merge with 
DuPont  DD.N  (notified June 22/deadline Feb. 28) 
     
    MARCH 29 
    -- Chinese state-owned company China National Chemical Corp 
(ChemChina)  CNNCC.UL  to acquire Swiss pesticides and seeds 
group Syngenta  SYNN.S  (notified Sept. 23/deadline March 29) 
     
    SUSPENDED 
    -- Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR 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/