BRUSSELS, March 15 (Reuters) - 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 Lone Star to acquire Nordic building materials distributor Stark from British company Ferguson FERG.L (approved March 14)
-- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and holding company BHL Holdings Ltd to acquire joint control of BGL (Holdings) Ltd which owns several price comparison websites (approved March 14)
NEW LISTINGS
-- iPhone maker Apple AAPL.O to acquire UK music streaming service Shazam (notified March 14/deadline April 23)
-- U.S. investment company TA Associates and French investment bank Rothschild ROTH.PA to jointly acquire British software company Datix (notified March 14/deadline April 23/simplified)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
-- Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal MT.AS to acquire Italian steel plant (notified Sept. 21/deadline extended to May 23 after ArcelorMittal offered concessions)
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
MARCH 15
-- Canada's Brookfield Business Partners BBU_u.TO to acquire a controlling stake in plastic packaging maker Schoeller Allibert from an indirect subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) JPM.N (notified Feb. 8/deadline March 15/simplified)
MARCH 23
-- Chemicals company Quaker Chemical Corp KWR.N and Hinduja Group's Houghton Internatioal HGINL.UL to merge (notified Feb. 2/deadline extended to March 23 from March 9 after the companies provided concessions)
MARCH 27
-- APMH Invest, which is a subsidiary of Danish shipper AP Moeller Maersk MAERSKb.CO , and Mitsui & Co 8031.T to set up a joint venture Maersk Product Tankers (notified Feb. 20/deadline March 27/simplified)
-- Marubeni Itochu Steel and Sumitomo Corp 8053.T to acquire joint control of Hiroshima Steel Center Ltd, which is a unit of Marubeni Itochu Steel (notified Feb. 20/deadline March 27/simplified)
MARCH 28
-- French private equity firm Ardian to acquire resin maker DRT (notified Feb. 21/deadline March 28/simplified)
-- Diamond Transmission Corp, which is a unit of Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T and investment vehicle IIO1, and Infrared Capital Partners to set up a joint venture (notified Feb. 21/deadline March 28/simplified)
APRIL 3
-- Private equity firm Advent International to acquire French telephony products distributor Circet Groupe (notified Feb. 22/deadline April 3/simplified)
APRIL 4
-- Swiss luxury goods group Richemont CFR.S to acquire e-commerce portal Yoox Net-A-Porter Group YNAP.MI (notified Feb. 23/deadline April 4/simplified)
-- Chinese conglomerate Fosun 0656.HK to acquire German pension insurer Pro Bav Pensionskasse (notified Feb. 23/deadline April 4/simplified)
-- Austrian company Borealis BESGR.UL , Canada's Nova Chemicals and French oil and gas major Total TOTF.PA to set up a joint venture (notified Feb. 23/deadline April 4/simplified)
APRIL 5
-- Private equity firm KKE KKR.N to acquire UK car parts maker Tekfor (notified Feb. 26/deadline April 5/simplified)
-- U.S. specialty material company Celanese CE.N and private equity firm Blackstone (NYSE:BX) BX.N to combine their cellulose acetate tow units under a new joint venture (notified Sept. 9/deadline extended to April 5 from March 26)
-- German industrial group Bayer BAYGn.DE to acquire U.S. seeds company Monsanto (NYSE:MON) MON.N (notified June 30/deadline extended to April 5 from March 12 after Bayer offered concessions)
APRIL 6
-- Private equity firm KKR KKR.N to acquire Anglo-Dutch consumer products group Unilever 's ULVR.L UNc.AS margarine and spreads business (notified Feb. 27/deadline April 6/simplified)
APRIL 9
-- U.S. software company IBM (NYSE:IBM) IBM.N and Danish shipping company Maersk MAERSKb.CO to set up a joint venture (notified Feb. 28/deadline April 9/simplified)
-- Private equity firm Platinum Equity Group to acquire U.S. hotelier Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN) Corp's WYN.N European vacation rental business (notified Feb. 28/deadline April 9/simplified)
APRIL 10
-- Investment management firm 3I to acquire Dutch personal care products maker SITS Holding B.V. (notified March 1/deadline April 10/simplified)
-- Australian investment bank Macquarie Group MQG.AX to acquire Danish telecoms company TDC TDC.CO (notified March 1/deadline April 10/simplified)
APRIL 11
-- Apollo Capital Management and JSW Steel Limited to take joint control of Monnet Ispat Energy Limited (notified March 2/deadline April 11/simplified)
-- Private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe to acquire French leisure travel services providers Fram and Karavel (notified March 2/deadline April 11/simplified)
-- French oil and gas major Total TOTF.PA to acquire part of French gas and power group Engie's ENGIE.PA liquified natural gas business (notified March 2/deadline April 11)
APRIL 12
-- U.S. private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners to acquire Italian train operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori S.p.A. (notified March 5/deadline April 12/simplified)
-- Investment funds Prime Credit 3, Oxalis Holding and three individuals to acquire joint control of Phoenix Asset Management, which is now owned by the three individuals (notified March 5/deadline April 12/simplified)
APRIL 13
-- PPF Group to acquire sole control of Czech transportation company Skoda Transportation and its subsidiaries rail vehicles research company VUKV, production facilities provider Jokiaura Kakkonen, holding company Satacoto, property services company Skoda Investment and repair services provider Bammer Trade (notified March 6/deadline April 13/simplified)
-- Canadian asset management company Brookfield BAMa.TO to acquire Spanish renewable energy company Saeta SAY.MC (notified March 6/deadline April 13/simplified)
-- Insurer Sedgwick, which is controlled by private equity firm KKR KKR.N , to acquire insurance services provider Cunningham Lindsey (notified March 6/deadline April 13)
APRIL 16
-- U.S. conglomerate GE GE.N and Russia oil and natural gas producer Rosneft ROSN.MM to set up a joint venture (notified March 7/deadline April 16/simplified)
-- Germany's BASF BASFn.DE to acquire businesses from Bayer BAYGn.DE (notified March. 7/deadline April 16)
-- Lenovo Group 0992.HK and Fujitsu 6702.T to set up a joint venture whereby Lenovo acquires a majority stake in certain assets of Fujitsu's PC business (notified March 7/deadline April 16)
-- Strategic Value Partners to take control of polyurethane foam maker Vita Group (notified March. 7/deadline April 16/simplified)
APRIL 18
-- Cerberus Capital Management CBS.UL to acquire Spanish bank BBVA's BBVA.MC real estate business (notified March 9/deadline April 18/simplified)
-- U.S. auto parts retailer LKQ Corp LKQ.O to acquire German peer Stahlgruber (notified March 9/deadline April 18)
APRIL 19
--- U.S. wheel parts supplier Accuride, which is controlled by private equity firm Crestview L.L.C., to acquire German peer Metro Wheels (notified March 12/deadline April 19)
-- Private equity firms Cathay Pacific Private Equity and Equistone Partners Europe to jointly acquire German car parts maker E. Winkemann (notified March 12/deadline April 19/simplified)
-- U.S. aerospace and industrial company United Technologies Corp (NYSE:UTX) UTX.N to acquire avionics maker Rockwell Collins (NYSE:COL) COL.N (notified March 12/deadline April 19)
JUNE 7
-- South African chemicals company Tronox TROX.N to acquire the titanium dioxide business of Cristal, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Tasnee (notified Nov. 15/deadline extended to June 7)
JULY 18
-- German industrial gases group Linde LING.DE to merge with U.S. peer Praxair (NYSE:PX) PX.N (notified Jan. 12/ deadline extended to July 18 from July 4)
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.