EU mergers and takeovers (Nov 4)
BRUSSELS, Nov 4 (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
None
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
None
FIRST (Other OTC: FSTC - news) -STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
NOV 9
-- Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Iberian Partners (LSE: 0QOQ.L - news) , German bottler Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetraenke AG and Icelandic bottler Vífilfell hf to merge (notified Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) . 2/deadline Nov. 9)
NOV 13
-- U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . data center operator Equinix (NasdaqGS: EQIX - news) to acquire British peer Telecity Group (LSE: TCY.L - news) (notified Sept. 24/deadline extended to Nov. 13 from Oct. 29 after Equinix offered concessions)
-- Japanese steel producer Marubeni-Itochu Steel and Sumitomo Corp to combined their domestic Japanese steel building materials businesses (notified Oct. 8/deadline Nov. 13)
NOV 16
-- BT Pension Scheme and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire a London property (notified Oct. 9/deadline Nov. 16/simplified)
-- U.S. industrial group Honeywell to acquire the Elster utility consumption metering business of British company Melrose Industries Plc (Other OTC: MLSPF - news) (notified Oct. 9/deadline Nov. 16)
NOV 17
-- Swiss insurer ACE to acquire U.S. peer Chubb notified Oct. 12/deadline Nov. 17/simplified)
NOV 18
-- Insurance broker Willis Group to acquire financial management services provider Towers Watson & Co (NasdaqGS: TW - news) (notified Oct. 13/deadline Nov. 18/simplified)
-- Belgian chemical group Solvay (Brussels: SOLB.BR - news) to acquire U.S. peer Cytec (notified Oct. 13/deadline Nov. 18)
NOV 20
-- China's HNA Group to acquire Swiss air cargo handler Swissport International (notified Oct. 15/deadline Nov. 20)
NOV 23
-- U.S. chipmaker Avago Technologies to acquire U.S. peer Broadcom Corp (NasdaqGS: BRCM - news) (notified Oct. 2/deadline extended to Nov. 23 from Nov. 9 after Avago offered concessions)
-- Finland's Fortum (Other OTC: FOJCY - news) and Lithuanian state-owned energy group Lietuvos Energija to set up a joint venture (notified Oct. 16/deadline Nov. 23)
-- Apollo Capital Management and hotel management company Redefine BDL Hotels UK Ltd to acquire joint control of British hotel operator LRG Finance (notified Oct. 16/deadline Nov. 23/simplified)
NOV 26
-- Bain Capital Investors to acquire car parts distributor Autodistribution Group (notified Oct. 21/deadline Nov. 26/simplified)
NOV 27
-- Panasonic Healthcare, which is backed by private equity firm KKR, and Japan's Panasonic Corp, to acquire Bayer (Milan: BAY.MI - news) 's diabetes care business (notified Oct. 22/deadline Nov. 27)
NOV 30
-- Austrian insurer Generali Holding Vienna's Generali (Swiss: ASG.SW - news) Pensionskasse AG subsidiary and Zürich Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft's BONUS Pensionskassen unit to merge (notified Oct. 23/deadline Nov. 30/simplified)
-- Canadian car parts supplier Magna International to acquire car parts maker Stadco Automotive Ltd (notified Oct. 23/deadline Nov. 30/simplified)
-- The Carlyle Group to acquire PA Consulting (notified Oct. 23/deadline Nov. 30/simplified)
DEC 1
-- Swiss chemicals company Ineos to acquire UK North Sea gas fields from the DEA Group (notified Oct. 26/deadline Dec. 1/simplified)
DEC 3
-- French supermarket chain Carrefour (Paris: FR0000120172 - news) to acquire French electronic products retailer Rue du Commerce (notified Oct. 28/deadline Dec. 3/simplified)
DEC 7
-- Investment firm Oaktree Capital Group, Swedish builder Skanska (Stockholm: SKA-B.ST - news) and hotel operator Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to acquire Polish hotel operator Hotel Atrium (notified Oct. 30/deadline Dec. 7/simplified)
DEC 23
-- 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 for the second time to Dec. 23 from Dec. 9)
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. 8 after the companies asked for more time)
JAN 18
-- South African paper maker Mondi (LSE: MNDI.L - news) to acquire some assets from portfolio company Walki (notified July 29/deadline extended to Jan. 18 from Sept. 2 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
FEB 10
-- U.S. office supplier Staples (NasdaqGS: SPLS - news) to acquire U.S. rival Office Depot (NasdaqGS: ODP - news) (notified Aug. 21/deadline extended to Feb. 10 from Sept. 25 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
MARCH 16
-- Hutchison Whampoa to acquire Telefonica (Amsterdam: TA6.AS - news) 's O2 UK subsidiary (notified Sept. 11/deadline extended for the third time to March 16 from Oct. 30 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
MARCH 17
-- Cable telecoms company Liberty Global (NasdaqGS: LBTYA - news) 's Belgian subsidiary Telenet (Other OTC: TLGHY - news) to buy mobile network operator Base from Dutch group KPN (notified Aug. 17/deadline extended to March 17 from March 3)
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)