EU mergers and takeovers (Dec 16)

BRUSSELS, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

-- French group Danone to acquire U.S. organic foods producer WhiteWave Foods Co (approved Dec. 16)

-- Germany's Deutsche Post AG to acquire UK postal operator UK Mail Group (approved Dec. 16)

-- Italian utility Enel 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) (approved Dec. 15)

-- German financial services company Allianz and Dutch insurance company NN Group to acquire joint control over German student housing company The FIZZ (approved Dec. 15)

NEW LISTINGS

None

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

None

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

DEC 21

-- Irish technology distribution company Exertis, which is part of DCC PLC, to acquire UK data-storage company Hammer (notified Nov. 16/deadline Dec. 21)

DEC 22

-- Coca Cola Company to buy 50 percent stake in Lithuanian mineral water producer Neptuno Vandenys from Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (notified Nov. 17/deadline Dec. 22)

-- Verizon Communications to acquire U.S. internet company Yahoo (notified Nov. 17/deadline Dec. 22)

JAN 4

-- U.S. car sealing and thermal management products Dana 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 to acquire U.S.-based Morpho Detection from French aerospace company Safran (notified Nov. 23/deadline Jan. 5)

-- Private equity firms Cinven, 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 6

-- Chinese insurance company Fosun to acquire German fashion house Tom Tailor (notified Nov. 24/deadline Jan. 6/simplified)

JAN 9

-- Venture capital company Rockaway Capital SE, energy company EC Investments and Czech financial services company PPF Group N.V. to create online shopping joint venture Sully System (notified Nov. 25/deadline Jan. 9/simplified)

-- Czech e-commerce services company Rockaway Capital SE, energy company EC Investments and Czech financial services company PPF Group N.V. to acquire Sully systems, which will act as a holding company (notified Nov. 25/deadline Jan. 9/simplified)

JAN 10

-- French automotive manufacturer Groupe PSA to take control of French second-hand car distributor Groupe Aramis (notified Nov. 28/deadline Jan. 10/simplified)

-- Business consultancy Everis Initiatives, which is a subsidiary of Japanese group NTT Data, and Spanish bank Bankia to jointly acquire Spanish company Nettit Colaborative Payment, which is now solely controlled by Everis (notified Nov. 28/deadline Jan. 10/simplified)

JAN 11

-- U.S. medical devices maker Abbott Laboratories to acquire U.S. diagnostics company Alere (notified Nov. 29/deadline Jan. 11)

JAN 13

-- Investment firm HIG Capital to acquire shares in Dutch recycling company Ecore (notified Dec. 1/deadline Jan. 13/simplifed)

-- U.S. conglomerate Koch Industries to acquire U.S. peer Guardian Industries (notified Dec. 1/deadline Jan. 13/simplified)

JAN 17

-- German automotive parts supplier Rheinmetall Automotive and Chinese automobile radiator company Zhejan Yinlun Machinery to form joint venture JV (notified Dec. 5/deadline Jan. 17/simplified procedure)

-- U.S. investment firm KKR & Co. to take sole control of Japanese auto parts supplier Calsonic Kansei Corp (notified Dec. 5/deadline Jan. 17/simplified)

JAN 18

-- Private equity firm Permira to acquire online fashion products retailer Schustermann & Borenstein (notified Dec. 6/deadline Jan. 18/simplified)

-- Private equity firm Permira to acquire German fashion retailer and exporter Schustermann & Borenstein (notified Dec. 6/deadline Jan. 18/simplified)

JAN 20

-- U.S. investment group KKR to acquire a majority stake in Swedish bed and mattrass maker Hilding Anders (notified Dec. 8/deadline Jan. 20/simplified)

-- South Africa's Barloworld Ltd and Germany's BayWa to establish BHBW joint venture for agriculture and materials handling operations in southern Africa (notified Dec. 8/deadline Jan. 20/simplified)

-- U.S. investment group KKR to acquire a majority stake in Swedish bed and mattrass maker Hilding Anders (notified Dec. 8/deadline Jan. 20/simplified)

-- South Africa's Barloworld Ltd and Germany's BayWa to establish BHBW joint venture for agriculture and materials handling operations in southern Africa. (notified Dec. 8/deadline Jan. 20/simplified)

JAN 23

-- France's Schneider Electric and DB Energie to form a joint venture (notified Dec. 9/deadline Jan. 23/simplified)

JAN 25

-- Japanese holding company Sompo Holdings Inc to acquireNew York-listed insurer Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd (notified Dec. 13/deadline Jan. 25/simplified)

JAN 26

-- Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation and Ube Industries to acquire joint control of electrolytes makers Changshu MC Ionic Solutions CN Co Ltd and AET Electrolyte Technologies (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd (notified Dec. 14/deadline Jan. 26/simplified)

-- EP Investment and EP Investment II to jointly acquire Czech utility Energeticky a prumyslovy holding, a.s. (EPH) (notified Dec. 14/deadline Jan. 26/simplified)

FEB 23

-- German cement producers Heidelbergcement and Schwenk to jointly acquire Mexican peer Cemex's 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 to merge with DuPont (notified June 22/deadline Feb. 28)

MARCH 6

-- Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange plan to merge (notified Aug. 24/deadline extended to March 6 from Feb. 13 after the companies asked for more time)

MARCH 29

-- Chinese state-owned company China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) to acquire Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta (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)