Search Here

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

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

-- French builder Vinci to buy EVT, an engineering unit of Swiss group Alpiq (approved Aug. 31)

-- Dutch pension fund managers APG and PGGM to acquire a majority stake in LBC terminals from the Challenger Infrastructure Fund (approved Aug. 31)

NEW LISTINGS

None

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

None

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

SEPT 3

-- British engineering group GKN to purchase Volvo AB's aerospace division (notified July 27/deadline Sept. 3)

SEPT 4

-- Czech steel producer Trinecke Zelezarny to acquire Czech steelmaker ZDB Dratovna (notified July 30/deadline Sept. 4/simplified)

-- Private equity firm KKR to acquire German kitchenware maker Wuerttembergische Metallwaren Fabrik (notified July 30/deadline Sept. 4/simplified)

SEPT 6

-- Paper producer Voity Paper GmbH, which is a subsidiary of German technology company Voith GmbH, and industrial group IHI Corp to set up a joint venture (notified Aug. 1/deadline Sept. 6/simplified)

SEPT 7

-- Saudi dairy product producer Al Safi Danone, which is controlled by France's Danone Group, and French logistics company NDL International, which is controlled by the Norbert Dentressangle Group, to set up a joint venture (notified Aug. 2/deadline Sept. 7/simplified)

SEPT 10

-- Commodities trader Louis Dreyfus Commodities Suisse to acquire Dutch dairy product trader Ecoval Holding BV (notified Aug. 3/deadline Sept. 10/simplified)

SEPT 12

-- Tech Data Corp to acquire the 50 percent of joint venture Brightstar Europe Ltd it does not own from private equity firm Brightstar Corp (notified Aug. 7/deadline Sept. 12/simplified)

SEPT 13

-- Aviation group EADS and Singapore airplane repair group Singapore Technologies Aerospace, which is owned by ST Engineering, to set up a joint venture Elbe Flugzeugwerke (notified Aug. 8/deadline Sept. 13)

SEPT 14

-- Danish dairy co-operative Arla Foods to acquire British co-operative Milk Link (notified Aug. 9/deadline Sept. 14)

SEPT 17

-- French insurer Axa to buy French engineering group Fives (notified Aug. 10/deadline Sept. 17/simplified)

SEPT 19

-- Private equity firms Bridgepoint and Orlando Italy Management S.A. to acquire joint control of Italian cosmetic products distributor Limoni S.p.A. (notified Aug. 14/deadline Sept. 19/simplified)

-- 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)

SEPT 20

-- Austrian energy company Verbund and German engineering group Siemens to set up a joint venture to provide electric mobility services in Austria (notified Aug. 16/deadline Sept. 20)

-- French insurer Euler Hermes and Spanish insurer Mapfre to set up a joint venture (notified Aug. 16/deadline Sept. 20)

SEPT 21

-- French engineering company Alstom and French sovereign fund FSI to acquire joint control of French tramway maker Translohr (notified Aug. 17/deadline Sept. 21)

-- U.S. electronic parts distributor Avnet to buy German distributor of data center services Magirus (notified Aug. 17/deadline Sept. 21)

SEPT 27

-- 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 third time to Sept. 27 from Sept. 6 after Universal offers remedies)

OCT 1

-- Hong Kong property developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd and Power Asset Holdings Ltd to buy British gas company Wales and West Utilities (notified Aug. 27/deadline Oct. 1/simplified)

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 30

-- 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 for the third time to Nov. 30 from Nov. 27 to allow a market test of Hutchison 3G's concessions)

DEC 20

-- U.S. mail delivery company United Parcel Service Inc to acquire Dutch peer TNT Express (notified June 15/deadline extended for the third time to Dec. 20 from Dec. 12)

JAN 14

-- Ryanair to acquire Aer Lingus (notified July 24/deadline extended to Jan. 14 from Aug. 29 after the European Commission opened 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.

This article is copyrighted by Reuters