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
-- Finnish group Outokumpu to acquire German group ThyssenKrupp's Inoxum stainless steel unit (notified April 10/deadline extended to Sept. 26 from May 21 after the Commission opens an in-depth investigation)
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
MAY 25
-- British packaging company DS Smith to acquire the recyclyed packaging operations of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) (notified March 28/deadline extended to May 25 from May 8 after DS Smith offered commitments)
-- Eastman Chemical Co. to acquire chemicals firm Solutia Inc. (notified April 16/deadline May 25)
MAY 29
-- Belgian-based AGC Glass Europe to acquire majority stake in Germany's Interpane International Glas (notified April 17/deadline May 29)
JUNE 4
-- German property services company RGM and German builder Alpine Bau to set up a joint venture (notified April 23/deadline June 4/simplified)
-- Mexican industrial conglomerate Mexichem to acquire Dutch peer Wavin (notified April 23/deadline June 4)
JUNE 5
-- French insurer CNP Assurances Swiss Life France (notified April 24/deadline June 5/simplified)
JUNE 6
-- French seed supplier Limagrain and seed producer KWS to set up a research joint venture to be called Genective (notified April 25/deadline June 6/simplified)
-- Pratt & Whitney which is a unit of U.S. maker of elevators and air conditioners United Technologies Corp, British company Rolls-Royce plc, Japanese Aero Engines Corp and Germany's MTU Aero Engines GmbH to set up a joint venture called International Aero Engines (notified April 25/deadline June 6/simplified)
JUNE 7
- Dow Europe Holding, a unit of U.S. company, Dow Chemical Company, to aquire joint control of carbon products company Aksa Karbon which is now solely controlled by Turkish conglomerate Aksa Akrilik (notified April 26/deadline June 7/simplified)
-- Spanish oil product company Disa Corporacion Petrolifera to acquire joint control of Shell Aviation Espana S.L. from Shell Espana S.A, which is part of Royal Dutch Shell Plc (notified April 26/deadline June 7)
JUNE 11
-- Luxembourg-based paper producer Lecta to aquire the Italian business Polyedra from Australian paper manufacturer Paperlinx (notified April 30/deadline June 11/simplified)
JUNE 12
-- U.S. brewer Molson Coors to acquire east European peer Starbev from CVC Capital Partners (notified May 2/deadline June 12)
-- Belgian chemicals company Solvay and French peer Air Liquide to form a fluorine gas business joint venture )notified May 2/deadline June 12/simplified)
JUNE 13
-- French builder Bouygues Batiment International SA, which is part of French conglomerate Bouygues, to acquire Amelia, which is the parent company of British builders Thomas Vale Construction Plc and Fitzgerald Contractors Ltd (notified May 3/deadliine June 13/simplified)
JUNE 14
-- Elior SCA to acquire control of restaurant concession holders Areas and Areas Iberoamericana (notified May 4/deadline June 14/simplified)
JUNE 15
-- British credit information group Experian and Italian peer Cerved to set up a joint venture (notified May 7/deadline June 15/simplified)
-- Hong Kong's Hutchison 3G, which is part of Hutchison Whampoa, to acquire telecoms operator Orange Austria from France Telecom (notified May 7/deadline June 15)
JUNE 19
-- The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire joint control of road toll operator Grupo Costanera which is now solely owned by motorway toll operator Atlantia (notified May 10/deadline June 19/simplified)
-- POSCO Chemtech, which is a subsidiary of South Korean steelmaker POSCO ; Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp and Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp to set up a joint venture (notified May 10/deadline June 19/simplified)
JUNE 20
-- France's La Poste LAPST.UL and Switzerland's Swiss Post to set up a joint venture for cross border mail activities (notified May 11/deadline June 20)
JUNE 22
-- Swedish paper company SCA to acquire the European tissue operations of Georgia-Pacific Europe (notified May 15/deadline June 22)
AUG 9
-- U.S. conglomerate United Technologies Corp to acquire U.S. aircraft components maker Goodrich (notified Feb. 20/deadline extended for the second time to Aug. 31 from Aug. 9 at the companies' request)
SEPT 6
-- Vivendi's Universal Music Group to buy British record label EMI's recorded music unit from Citigroup Inc (notified Feb. 17/deadline extended for the second time to Sept. 6 from Aug. 8 after the Commission asked for more time)
SEPT 19
-- Telefonica UK and Vodafone UK to set up a joint venture providing mobile commerce services (notified March 6/deadline extended for the second time to Sept. 19 from Aug. 27 after the companies requested an extension)
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.
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