The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
-- Private equity firm Permira Europe III to acquire Spain's Telepizza (approved July 13)
-- Swedish company Nuvia, which is a subsidiary of French property company Vinci, and Sweden's Coor Services Management Nuclear AB, which is a unit of private equity firm Cinven, to set up a joint venture (approved July 13)
NEW LISTINGS
-- Swedish private equity investor EQT to buy German bandage and plaster cast maker BSN Medical (notified July 9/deadline Aug. 13)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
None
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
JULY 16
-- Private equity firm Lion Capital to acquire French eyewear retailer Alain Afflelou (notified June 11/deadline July 16/simplified)
-- U.S. specialty chemicals maker Cytec Industries to acquire British manufacturer Umeco (notified June 11/deadline July 16)
-- European aerospace group EADS and Israeli Aerospace Industries to set up a joint venture (notified June 11/deadline July 16)
JULY 20
-- Private equity firms L Capital and Paladin Capital Partners to acquire joint control of Italian restaurant developer and operator Cigierre Compagnia Generale Ristorazione (notified June 15/deadline July 20/simplified)
-- U.S. mail delivery company United Parcel Service Inc to acquire Dutch peer TNT Express (notified June 15/deadline July 20)
-- British chip maker ARM Holdings, Amsterdam-based smart card maker Gemalto and German technology firm Giesecke & Devrient to set up a joint venture on mobile security (notified June 15/deadline July 20)
JULY 23
-- French car parts maker Faurecia to acquire French car parts manufacturer Plastal SAS (notified June 18/deadline July 23)
-- U.S. network equipment maker Cisco to acquire TV software developer NDS which is 51 percent owned by private equity fund Permira and the rest by News Corp (notified June 18/deadline July 23)
-- Polish copper miner KGHM and Polish utility Tauron to set up a joint venture to build a gas steam power unit (notified June 18/deadline July 23)
JULY 24
-- Private equity firm Platinum Equity to acquire logistics company Caterpillar Logistics Services (notified June 19/decision July 24/simplified)
JULY 25
-- French conglomerate Lagardere and Bouygues to set up a joint venture (notified June 20/deadline July 25/simplified)
-- Canadian IT services company CGI Group Inc to acquire Dutch rival Logica Plc (notified June 20/deadline July 25/simplified)
JULY 26
-- Spanish lender Banco Santander to purchase Poland's Kredyt Bank from Belgian bank KBC (notified June 21/deadline July 26/simplified)
JULY 27
-- French insurer CNP Assurances and French bank BNP Paribas to acquire office property inFrance (notified June 22/deadline July 27)
-- U.S. car parts maker Delphi Automotive Plc to buy FCI Group's motorized vehicles unit (MVL) which is owned by private equity firm Bain Capital (notified June 22/deadline July 27)
-- Private equity firm Bain to acquire a stake in Japanese TV shopping station Jupiter Shop Channel which is owned by Japanese group Sumitomo (notified June 22/deadline July 27/simplified)
JULY 30
-- German insurer Allianz to buy the property and casualty brokerage-related activities of Gan Eurocourtage, a unit of French peer Groupama (notified June 25/deadline July 30)
-- Belgian steel cord and wire manufacturer Bekaert and Malaysia's Southern Steel Berhad, which is owned by Hong Leong Corp, to set up a steel manufacturing joint venture (notified June 25/deadline July 30/simplified)
JULY 31
-- Russian crude producer Lukoil to increase its stake in Italy-based Isab refinery (notified June 26/deadline July 31/simplified)
AUG 6
-- Swiss-based trading house Gunvor to acquire refiner Petroplus's oil plant in Germany (notified July 2/deadline Aug. 6/simplified)
AUG 8
-- Austrian lender Raiffeisen Bank International to buy a majority stake in Polbank from Greek lender EFG Eurobank (notified July 4/deadline Aug. 8/simplified)
AUG 9
-- Hotel real estate investment firm HHR Euro CV and hotel group Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc to acquire joint control of German hotel Le Meridien Nuremberg (notified July 5/deadline Aug. 9/simplified)
-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and investor William C Young to acquire joint control of plastic products manufacturer Plastipak Holding (notified July 5/deadline Aug. 9/simplified)
-- Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp and Japanese electronics company Mitsubishi Electric Corp to acquire joint control of Mitsubishi Elevator Singapore Co. Ltd (notified July 5/deadline Aug. 9/simplified)
AUG 31
-- 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/companies offered commitments June 11)
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)
OCT 24
-- Finnish group Outokumpu to acquire German group ThyssenKrupp's Inoxum stainless steel unit (notified April 10/deadline extended for the second time to Oct. 24 from Sept. 26 after the companies asked for more time)
NOV 6
-- Hong Kong's Hutchison 3G, which is part of Hutchison Whampoa, to acquire telecoms operator Orange Austria from France Telecom (notified May 7/deadline extended to Nov. 6 from June 29 after the EU Commission opens an in-depth probe)
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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