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The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process according to Reuters:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS*

• Private equity investor 3i Group to acquire sole control of ferry operator Scandferries Holdings which is now jointly controlled by 3i and ACP Affiliates (approved Nov. 18)
• French luxury goods company LVMH to buy an 80 percent stake in Italian luxury cashmere clothing brand Loro Piana (approved Nov. 18)

NEW LISTINGS*

• Airport ground services handler Swissport, which is owned by private equity company PAI Partners, to handle Bulgarian flag carrier Bulgaria Air (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23/simplifid)
• Spain industrial group Corporacion Gestamp and Spanish bank Banco Santander to set up a joint venture (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23/simplified)
• Private equity firms KKR and Arle Capital to acquire joint control of mattress maker Hilding Anders Midco AB (notified Nov. 15/deadline Dec. 20/simplified)
• Austevoll Seafood ASA and investment company Kvefi, which is controlled by private investment firm Kverva AS, to set up a joint venture (notified Nov. 15/deadline Dec. 20)
• Private equity firm New Mountain Capital to acquire a fund from management services provider Alexander Mann Solutions (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 19/simplified)
• U.S. property consultancy CBRE Group Inc to buy British company Norland Holdings Ltd (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 19/simplified)
• China National Petroleum Corp to acquire a stake in a Russian Arctic project called the Yamal LNG project which is jointly controlled by Russia's Novatek and France's Total (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 19/simplified)

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE*

NOV 21

• Czech energy company EPH to acquire Slovakian power distributor Stredoslovenska Energetika (SSE) from French state-controlled utility EDF (notified Oct. 15/deadline Nov. 21)

NOV 26

• U.S. maker of scientific and laboratory equipment Thermo Fisher Scientific to buy genetic testing equipment maker Life Technologies (notified Oct. 7/deadline extended to Nov. 26 from Nov. 12 after the companies submitted concessions)
• U.S. bank Goldman Sachs to acquire sole control of British motor insurer Hastings Insurance Group (notified Oct. 21/deadline Nov. 26/simplified)

NOV 27

• Japan's Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd to buy British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Lucozade and Ribena brands (notified Oct. 22/deadline Nov. 27)

NOV 29

• French industrial group Schneider Electric to buy British engineer Invensys (notified Oct 24/deadline Nov. 29)

DEC 2

• Private equity firm Apax Partners to acquire Italian motor cars trader RhiagInter Auto Parts Italia S.p.A (notified Oct. 25/deadline Dec. 2/simplified)
• Private equity group Blackstone and investment bank Goldman Sachs to acquire joint control of British insurer Rothesay Life which is now solely owned by Goldman Sachs (notified Oct. 25/deadline Dec. 2)

DEC 3

• British private equity firm EQT VI to buy Finnish healthcare services company Terveystalo Healthcare (notified Oct. 28/deadline Dec. 3)
• Private equity investors Altor Funds and TryghedsGruppen to merge their Nordic fitness companies Elixia Holding III AS and Health & Fitness Nordic AB (notified Oct. 28/deadline Dec. 3)

DEC 4

• Microsoft to acquire Nokia's phone business (notified Oct. 29/deadline Dec. 4)
• Airport ground and cargo services handler Swissport, which is owned by private equity company PAI Partners, to acquire Servisair from French company Derichebourg SA (notified Oct. 29/deadline Dec. 4)

DEC 5

• Russian gas company Gazprom and German energy company Wintershall Holding GmbH to swap certain gas production assets (notified Oct. 30/deadline Dec. 5)
• Japanese parcel services provider Nippon Express Co Ltd to buy 67 percent of Panasonic Logistics which is owned by Japanese electronics group Panasonic Corp (notified oct. 30/deadline Dec. 5/simplified)

DEC 6

• Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica to buy Dutch peer KPN's German unit (notified Oct. X/deadline Dec. 6)
• French energy company GDF Suez to buy British industrial company Balfour Beatty plc's British facilities management unit (notified Oct. 31/deadline Dec. 6/simplified)

DEC 9

• Fondo Strategico Italiano to acquire sole control of Ansaldo Energia from Finmeccanica S.p.A. and First Reserve Power Limited, a subsidiary of First Reserve Fund XII L.P. (notified Nov. 4/deadline Dec. 9/simplified)
• Fishing product supplier Bolton Group BV to acquire joint control of two companies and integrate them with fish trader Tri Marine (notified Nov. 4/deadline Dec. 9)
• Private equity firm the Triton group to acquire pneumatic produt maker Bosch Rexroth Pneumatics Holding (notified Nov. 4/deadline Dec. 9/simplified)

DEC 10

• U.S. medical device maker Medtronic Inc MDT.N and Russian asset management company the Renova Group to set up a joint venture (notified Nov. 5/deadline Dec. 10/simplified)

DEC 11

• German refrigeration compressor maker Secop GmbH, owned by German private equity company Aurelius, to acquire Austrian industrial company ACC Austria GmbH (notified Nov. 6/deadline Dec. 11)

DEC 12

• German insurer Allianz and Spain's Banco Popular Espanol to acquire joint control of joint venture AP Vida (notified Nov. 7/deadline Dec. 12/simplified)
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi Ltd to integrate their thermal power generation systems (notified Nov. 7/deadline Dec. 12/simplified)

DEC 13

• Dutch storage firm Vopak and and Swedish gas grid operator Swedegas to acquire joint control of gas distribution terminal operator GO4LNG (notified Nov. 8/deadline Dec. 13/simplified)
• German aluminium firm Trimet Aluminium AG and French utility EDF to take control of two aluminium plants in France from Rio Tinto Alcan Group (notified Nov. 8/deadline Dec. 13)

MARCH 10

• Swiss cement maker Holcim to buy some of Mexican peer Cemex's assets in Germany (notified Sept. 3/dateline extended to March 10 from Oct. 22 after the Commission opened an in-depth investigation into the deal)

MARCH 21

• Switzerland-based INEOS and Belgian chemicals company Solvay to form a joint venture (notified Sept. 16/deadline extended for the second time to March 21 from Nov. 5 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)

MARCH 24

• Hutchison 3G UK to acquire Telefonica Ireland, a unit of Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica (notified Oct. 1/deadline extended to March 24 from Nov. 6 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)

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.

Tags

3i Group, European Commission