EU mergers and takeovers (Oct 2)

BRUSSELS, Oct (KOSDAQ: 039200.KQ - news) 2 (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. technology products distributor Arrow Electronics (NYSE: ARW - news) Inc to buy Computerlinks AG (approved Oct. 2)

-- Norwegian fish farmer Marine Harvest (Other OTC: MNHVF - news) to increase its stake in Norwegian salmon farmer Morpol ASA (approved Oct. 1)

-- Private equity (Swiss: PEHN.SW - news) firms Bain Capital and Altor Fund III to acquire joint control of German fish feed producer Ewos, which is owned by Norwegian fish farmer Cermag ASA (approved Oct. 1)

NEW LISTINGS

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

-- 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)

-- 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)

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

-- Dutch chemicals company DSM subsidiary DSM R&D Solutions and Maastricht UMC Holding B.V. to set up a joint venture (notified Sept. 5/deadline Oct. 10/simplified)

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

-- 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)

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

OCT 4

-- Soft drinks manufacturer Refresco Group to acquire rival Pride Foods (notified Aug. 16/deadline extended to Oct. 4 from Sept. 20 after Referesco Group offered concessions)

OCT 9

-- Amvest Vastgoed B.V. to buy healthcare services provider DLH B.V. which is jointly controlled by DLH's management and a unit of Dutch private equity firm NPM Capital N.V. (notified Sept. 4/deadline Oct. 9/simplified)

-- Dutch steel product maker and machinery equipment distributor Koninklijke Reesink to buy Pon Holdings B.V.'s European material handling businesses (notified Sept. 4/deadline Oct. 9)

OCT 10

-- Spanish airports operator Aena and the private equity arm of French insurance group Axa (Paris: FR0000120628 - news) to buy a stake in London's Luton airport from Spanish infrastructure company Abertis (notified Sept. 5/deadline Oct. 10)

OCT 11

-- French bank BNP Paribas Fortis and Belgian telecoms operator Belgacom (Other OTC: BGAOF - news) to set up a joint venture for a Belgian mobile wallet (notified Sept. 6/deadline Oct. 11)

OCT 16

-- Greek carrier Aegean Airlines to buy Olympic (BSE: OLPCL.BO - news) Air (notified Feb. 28/deadline extended for the second time to Oct. 16 from Sept. 25 after Aegean offered additional commitments)

OCT 21

-- BP Europa, which is a unit of British energy group BP plc (LSE: BP.L - news) , to buy a joint stake in Polish fuel supplier Lotos Tank from Polish oil company Grupa Lotos (notified Sept. 16/deadline Oct. 21/simplified)

-- Switzerland-based INEOS and Belgian chemicals company Solvay to form a joint venture (notified Sept. 16/deadline Oct. 21)

-- Private equity firm CVC (Taiwan OTC: 4744.TWO - news) to acquire full control of domestic appliances repairer Domestic & General Group Holdings (notified Sept. 16/deadline Oct. 21/simplified)

OCT 22

-- Private equity firm Cinven to buy German life insurer Heidelberger Leben from British lender Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY.L - news) (notified Sept. 17/deadline Oct. 22/simplified)

-- 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)

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.