EU mergers and takeovers (March 30)

BRUSSELS, March 30 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

-- U.S. orthopaedic products maker Zimmer Holdings (LSE: 0QQD.L - news) to acquire rival Biomet Inc (approved March 30)

-- U.S. card payment services provider American Express and Swiss bank Credit Suisse (LSE: 0QP5.L - news) to restructure their Swiss and Liechtenstein joint venture (approved March 30)

-- Fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners and Spanish builder ACS to jointly acquire some of ACS' energy renewable assets in Spain, Portugal and internationally (approved March 27)

-- China Shipbuilding Power Engineering Institute, which is part of Chinese group China State Shipbuilding Corporation, and Finnish ship engine and power plant maker Wartsila to set up a joint venture (approved March 25)

-- Private equity firm PAI to acquire Dutch clothing and footwear retailer Lion Adventure (approved March 25)

-- South African furniture retailer Steinhoff to acquire local apparel firm Pepkor (approved March 25)

NEW LISTINGS

-- Qatari-backed investor Constellation Hotels to acquire InterContinental Hotels Group's flagship Le Grand hotel in Paris (notified March 25/deadline May 5/simplified)

-- U.S. conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (Sao Paolo: BERK34.SA - news) to acquire German motorcycle apparel and accessories retailer Detlev Louis Motrorrad-Vertriebs GmbH (notified March 25/deadline May 5/simplified)

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

None

FIRST (Other OTC: FSTC - news) -STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

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 8

-- Norwegian telecoms company Telenor (LSE: 0G8C.L - news) and Swedish peer TeliaSonera to combine their Danish mobile businesses (notified Feb. 27/deadline April 8)

APRIL 9

-- U.S. flooring products maker Mohawk Industries Inc (NYSE: MHK - news) 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)

APRIL 14

-- German insurer Allianz, 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

-- Bermuda-based insurance holding company Athene Holding Ltd, which is controlled by private investment firm Apollo, to acquire Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd's German subsidiaries (notified March 6/deadline April 15/simplified)

-- Private equity firm Riverstone and British bank Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) to jointly acquire oil producer Origo (notified March 6/deadline April 15/simplified)

-- AR Packaging Group to buy U.S. packaging company MeadWestvaco Corp's 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 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 17

-- Spanish oil company Repsol to acquire Canadian oil and gas producer Talisman Energy Inc (Toronto: TLM.TO - news) . (notified March 10/deadline April 17/simplified)

APRIL 20

-- Finnish ship engine and power plant maker Wartsila to buy navigation systems maker L-3 Marine Systems from L-3 Holding (notified March 11/deadline April 20/simplified)

-- Telecoms group Altice to acquire Brazilian peer Grupo Oi's Portuguese assets (notified Feb. 25/deadline April 20/concessions offered April 20/Portuguese competition authority asked to review the case on March 5)

APRIL 21

-- Private equity firms Ardian France and F2i SGR to acquire joint control of investor F2i Aeroporti which holds stakes in companies operating at Italian airports (notified March 12/deadline April 21)

APRIL 23

-- German industrial services group Bilfinger (Swiss: GBF.SW - news) and merchandising and management services provider Papstar Holding AG to set up a joint venture (notified March 16/deadline April 23/simplified)

APRIL 27

-- U.S. bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) and French property developer Altarea to jointly acquire French holding company Pascal Defense S.A.R.L. (notified March 18/deadline April 27/simplified)

-- Irish cement firm CRH (NYSE: CRH - news) to buy assets from merging companies Lafarge (Paris: FR0000120537 - news) and Holcim (notified March 18/deadline April 27)

APRIL 28

-- Canadian public pension fund Caisse de Depot du Placement du Quebec and British asset manager Hermes to acquire 40 percent of British high-speed rail Eurostar International Ltd, which is 55 percent owned by French rail operator SNCF Mobilities (notified March 19/deadline April 28)

APRIL 29

-- Austrian property developer CA Immo to acquire control of Austrian peer Immofinanz (Vienna: IIA.VI - news) (notified March 20/deadline April 29/simplified)

APRIL 30

-- German agricultural products distributor Baywa , German electric heating producer GlenDimplex and German energy software developer Greencom to acquire shares in energy services provider BEEGY GmbH (notified March 23/deadline April 30/simplified)

JUNE 1

-- Mondelez International Inc (Xetra: A1J4U0 - news) and competitor D.E Master Blenders 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 June 26/companies offer commitments on March 13)

JULY 8

-- Commodities trader Cargill to buy rival Archer Daniels Midland Co's global chocolate business (notified Jan. 19/deadline extended to July 8 from Feb. 23 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)

AUG 6

-- U.S. conglomerate General Electric to acquire most of French engineering group Alstom (LSE: 0J2R.L - news) 's power equipment business (notified Jan. 19/deadline extended for the second time to Aug. 6 from July 8 after GE asked for more time)

SUSPENDED

-- German conglomerate Siemens (Xetra: SIEC.DE - news) to purchase U.S. oilfield equipment maker Dresser-Rand Group Inc (notified Jan. 9/deadline suspended on March 19 following a request for information)

-- French telecoms operator Orange (LSE: 0OQV.L - news) to acquire Spanish provider Jazztel (notified Oct. 16/deadline suspended after Orange failed to provide certain 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 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)