EU mergers and takeovers (Aug 18)
BRUSSELS, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
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NEW LISTINGS
-- Pfizer (NYSE: PFE - news) to acquire British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) 's menACWY meningitis vaccine business (notified Aug. 17/deadline Sept. 29)
-- Cable telecoms company Liberty Global (NasdaqGS: LBTYA - news) 's Belgian subsidiary Telenet (Other OTC: TLGHF - news) to buy mobile network operator Base from Dutch group KPN (notified Aug. 17/deadline Sept. 21)
-- European private equity group Cinven to buy majority stake in German laboratory operator Synlab from BC Partners (notified Aug. 17/deadline Sept. 21/simplified)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
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FIRST (Other OTC: FSTC - news) -STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
AUG 20
-- Dutch building materials distributor PontMeyer, which is part of Deli Building Supplies B.V., to acquire Dutch holding company DBS (notified July 15/deadline Aug. 20)
AUG 24
-- Magyar Telekom (Other OTC: MGYTF - news) , 59 percent owned by Deutsche Telekom, to form a joint venture with Swiss-based energy sales and trading group MET Holding AG (notified July 17/deadline Aug. 24)
AUG 26
-- U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . drugmaker Perrigo to buy portfolio of over-the-counter brands form British peer GlaxoSmithKline (Amsterdam: GO8.AS - news) (notified July 22/deadline Aug. 26)
-- Varo Energy, a joint venture between the world's top oil trader Vitol and private equity firm Carlyle Group , is expanding its reach in Europe through a merger with Dutch-based storage and trading company Argos (notified July 22/ deadline Aug. 26)
AUG 28
-- U.S. real estate services provider DTZ to acquire U.S. peer Cushman & Wakefield (notified July 24/deadline Aug. 28)
SEPT 1
-- British engineering company GKN (LSE: GKN.L - news) to acquire Dutch company Fokker Technologies (notified July 28/deadline Sept. 1/simplified)
-- British support services provider DCC Group to acquire French gas company Butagaz from Anglo Dutch oil company Royal Dutch Shell (Xetra: R6C1.DE - news) (notified July 28/deadline Sept. 1/simplified)
-- U.S. grains company Archer Daniels Midland Co to acquire starch producer Eaststarch (notified July 28/deadline Sept. 1/simplified)
SEPT 2
-- Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell to acquire BG Group (LSE: BG.L - news) (notified July 29/deadline Sept. 2)
-- South African paper maker Mondi (LSE: MNDI.L - news) to acquire some assets from portfolio company Walki (notified July 29/deadline Sept. 2)
SEPT 4
-- Private equity firms 3i Group and AMP Capital Investors to acquire joint control of offshore emergency and rescue services provider Esvagt (notified July 31/deadline Sept. 4/simplified)
SEPT 7
-- Austrian bank Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich to acquire sole control of Austrian pension fund Valida Holding (notified Aug. 3/deadline Sept. 7/simplified)
-- Mahindra World City Developers and Japan's Sumitomo Corp to set up a joint venture (notified Aug. 3/deadline Sept. 7/simplified)
SEPT 8
-- Evo Payments International, Raiffeisen Bank Polska and Czech lender Raiffeisenbank to jointly control two new subsidiaries with merchant acquiring and acquiring processing services transferred from the two banks (notified Aug. 4/deadline Sept. 8/simplified)
SEPT 9
-- U.S. grain trader Archer Daniel Midland to acquire Belgian vegetable oil distributor AOR NV (notified Aug. 5/deadline Sept. 9)
-- German retailer REWE to acquire some travel units from Swiss travel operator Kuoni Reisen (Other OTC: KUIRF - news) (notified Aug. 5/deadline Sept. 9/simplified)
SEPT 10
-- Buyout group KKR to acquire majority stake in German fibre-optic network operator Deutsche Glasfaser (notified Aug. 6/deadline Sept. 10/simplified)
SEPT 11
-- U.S. investment firm Apollo Global Management to aquire majority control of Slovenian bank Nova KBM (notified Aug. 7/deadline Sept. 11/simplified)
-- U.S. conglomerate General Electric to acquire most of French engineering group Alstom (Paris: FR0010220475 - news) 's power equipment business (notified Jan. 19/deadline extended for third time to Sept. 11 from Aug. 21)
SEPT 14
-- Singapore-listed palm oil processor Wilmar International and Italian oil products company Fox Petrolifera Italiana SpA to set up a joint venture (notified Aug. 10/deadline Sept. 14/simplified)
-- BPIFrance and Springwater Capital LLC to acquire joint control of French paper producer Delion France (notified Aug. 10/deadline Sept. 14/simplified)
-- Naxicap Partners and Fonds Avenir Automobile to acquire joint control of French car parts maker Defta Group (notified Aug. 10/deadline Sept. 14/simplified)
SEPT 16
-- Norwegian telecoms company Telenor (Oslo: TELFUT.OL - news) and Swedish peer TeliaSonera (Amsterdam: 1087941.AS - news) to combine their Danish mobile businesses (notified Feb. 27/deadline extended to Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) . 7 from Sept. 16 after the companies offered commitments)
-- Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to acquire energy company PKP Energetyka (notified Aug. 12/deadline Sept. 16/simplified)
-- Private equity firms Advent International, Bain Capital and Clessidra to jointly acquire Italian banking services company ICBPI (notified Aug. 12/deadline Sept. 16)
-- Chinese state-owned food firms Bright Food Group Co Ltd to acquire Spanish holding company Invermik SA (notified Aug. 12/deadline Sept. 16/simplified)
SEPT 17
-- Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) and Spanish energy group Gas Natural (AMEX: EGAS - news) to acquire joint control of Global (Shenzhen: 300465.SZ - news) Power Generation (notified Aug. 13/deadline Sept. 17/simplified)
-- Buyout group KKR to acquire German cutlery and coffee-machine maker WMF (Other OTC: WMFWF - news) together with Austrian holding company FIBA (notified Aug.13/deadline Sept. 17)
SEPT 18
-- U.S. distressed investment fund Apollo to acquire majority stake in steel trader Stemcor (notified Aug. 14/deadline Sept. 18/simplified)
-- Japanese insurer Tokio Marine Holdings Inc to buy U.S. specialty insurer HCC Insurance Holdings Inc (notified Aug. 14/deadline Sept. 18/simplified)
-- Groupe Acticall to acquire customer relationship management company Sitel (notified Aug. 14/deadline Sept. 18/simplified)
-- Dutch chipmaker NXP to acquire U.S. peer Freescale (notified July 31, deadline extended to Sept. 18 from Sept. 4 after NXP offered concessions)
NOV 25
-- U.S. drinks can maker Ball Corp (NYSE: BLL - news) to acquire British rival Rexam Plc (LSE: REX.L - news) (notified June 15/deadline extended to Nov. 25 from July 20 after Commission opened in-depth investigation)
JAN 13
-- U.S. packages delivery company FedEx (Swiss: FDX.SW - news) to acquire Dutch peer TNT (notified July /deadline extended to Jan. 13 from Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) . 8 after the companies asked for more time)
SUSPENDED
-- Oilfield services provider Halliburton (Hanover: HAL.HA - news) to buy rival Baker Hughes in a stock and cash transaction (notified July 23/deadline suspended after the companies provided insufficient information)
-- 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 (Other OTC: ITGL - news) 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)