EU mergers and takeovers (Oct 16)

BRUSSELS, Oct (KOSDAQ: 039200.KQ - news) 16 (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 (Swiss: PEHN.SW - news) firm Cinven to buy German life insurer Heidelberger Leben from British lender Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY.L - news) (approved Oct. 16)

NEW LISTINGS

None

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

None

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

OCT 22

-- Swiss cement maker Holcim (Other OTC: HCMLY - news) to exchange some assets and combine others with Mexican peer Cemex (notified Sept. 3/deadline extended to Oct. 22 from Oct. 8 after a national regulator asked for the case to be referred to it)

-- Dutch pension group PGGM to acquire control of gas distributor Northern Offshore Upstream Gas Pipeline System, which is jointly controlled by French gas and power group GDF Suez and EBN B.V. (notified Sept. 17/deadline Oct. 22/simplified)

OCT 24

-- Private equity firm Triton to buy telecoms and energy infrastructure builder Alpine Energie from Spanish construction group FCC (Madrid: FCC.MC - news) (notified Sept. 19/deadline Oct. 24/simplified)

OCT 25

-- Japanese logistics company Nippon Express Co Ltd to buy a 49 percent stake in Japanese electronics company NEC Corp subsidiary NEC Logistics (notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25/simplified)

-- Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to buy some of Campbell Soup Co's brands (notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25)

OCT 29

-- Dutch dredger Boskalis and investment company Reggeborgh to acquire joint control of subsea power cables supplier Visser & Smit Marine Contracting B.V. which is now solely controlled by Reggeborgh (notified Sept. 24/deadliine Oct. 29)

OCT 30

-- U.S. group Koch Industries to acquire electronic components maker Molex (notified Sept. 25/deadline Oct. 30/simplified)

NOV 4

-- Private investment firm TPG and CaixaBank S.A. to set up a property joint venture by acquiring the business of CaixaBank unit Servihabitat (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 4/simplified)

-- Piper Verlag GmbH to acquire a 50 percent stake in the joint venture G+J RBA GmbH & Co which is now solely owned by German publisher Gruner + Jahr AG & Co (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 4/simplified)

NOV 5

-- Switzerland-based INEOS and Belgian chemicals company Solvay (Other OTC: SVYZY - news) to form a joint venture (notified Sept. 16/deadline extended to Nov. 5 from Oct. 21 after Solvay offered concessions)

-- British telecoms operator Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L - news) to buy a minority stake in Vodafone Omnitel N.V. from U.S. peer Verizon Communications Inc (notified Sept. 30/deadline Nov. 5/simplified)

NOV 6

-- South African furniture retailer Steinhoff International (Other OTC: SNHFY - news) Holdings to acquire electrical appliances retailer Rudolf Leiner Gesellschaft m.b.H. and LKM Beteiligungsgesellschaft m.b.H. (notified Oct. 1/deadline Nov. 6/simplified)

-- Hutchison 3G UK to acquire Telefonica Ireland, a unit of Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica (notified Oct. 1/deadline Nov. 6)

NOV 12

-- U.S. maker of scientific and laboratory equipment Thermo Fisher Scientific to buy genetic testing equipment maker Life Technologies (notified Oct. 7/deadline Nov. 12)

NOV 14

-- Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co, Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) which is majority owned by Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional Berhad, and investment company UWI Capital One to acquire joint control of Medini Iskandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which is now jointly controlled by IIB and UWI (notified Oct. 9/deadline Nov. 14/simplified)

NOV 18

-- U.S. asset management fund Ares Management LLC and Canada's Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board to acquire joint control of U.S. building products company CPG International LLC, which is now solely controlled by Ares (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov. 18/simplified)

-- Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor (Other OTC: TELNF - news) to take a stake in a venture owned by Norwegian publishing house Schibsted and Singapore Press Holdings, and also to set up a joint venture with Schibsted (Other OTC: SBSNF - news) focusing on South American business (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov. 18/simplified)

-- Parkwind, which is an investment vehicle of Belgian supermarket chain Colruyt Group, and special purpose vehicle Summit Renewable Energy, which is owned by Japan's Sumitomo Corp, to acquire joint control of wind farm operator Belwind 1, which is now solely owned by Summit Renewable Energy (NasdaqGS: REGI - news) (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov. 18/simplified)

-- French luxury goods company LVMH to buy an 80 percent stake in Italian luxury cashmere clothing brand Loro Piana (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov. 18/simplified)

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.