BRUSSELS, Feb 29 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under
review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU
merger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
-- Coop subsidiary Bell AG to acquire poultry processing
company HL Verwaltung (approved Feb. 26)
-- German food company Tonnies to acquire Danish peer Tican
(approved Feb. 26)
-- Celulosa Arauco y Constitucion S.A. (Arauco) and Sonae
Industria SGPS, SA (Sonae Industria) to acquire indirect joint
control of wood products company Tableros de Fibras S.A.
(Tafisa) (approved Feb. 26)
NEW LISTINGS
-- Global Infrastructure Partners and Canada Pension Plan
Investment Board to jointly acquire some businesses from
Australian freight company Asciano AIO.AX (notified Feb.
26/deadline April 6/simplified)
-- Worldline WLN.PA to acquire PaySquare from Equens
(notified Feb. 26/deadline April 6)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
-- Statoil Fuel and Retail STL.OL to acquire fuels
business of Dansk Fuels (notified on Feb. 4/deadline extended to
March 29 from March 10 after the companies submitted
concessions)
-- British supermarket J Sainsbury (OTC:JSAIY) SBRY.L , Dansk
Supermarket A/S and Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc MRW.L to
acquire a grocery store (Commission says deal is outside EU
merger control)
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
FEB 29
-- U.S. computer maker Dell Inc to acquire data storage
company EMC Corp (N:EMC) EMC.N (notified Jan. 25/deadline Feb. 29)
MARCH 3
-- McKesson (N:MCK) MCK.N to acquire certain businesses, notably
pharmaceutical wholesaling in UK and Ireland, from UDG
Healthcare UDG.L (notified Jan. 14/deadline extended to March
3 from Feb. 18 after a national competition regulator asked to
take over the case)
MARCH 7
-- Private equity fund Lone Star Fund to acquire food and
beverage vending machine maker N&W Global Vending
NWGLV.UL (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 7/simplified)
MARCH 9
-- German agricultural services company Hauptgenossenschaft
Nord to buy sector peer Roth Agrarhandel (notified on Feb.
3/deadline March 9/simplified)
MARCH 10
-- Israeli drugmaker Teva TEVA.TA to acquire U.S. peer
Allergan (N:AGN_pa)'s AGN.N generics drugs business (notified Jan.
21/deadline extended to March 10 from Feb. 25 after Teva offers
commitments)
-- Private equity firm KKR KKR.N to acquire sole control
of French IT services provider Webhelp (notified on Feb.
4/deadline March 10/simplified)
-- EDF EDF.PA and China General Nuclear Power Corp forms
NNB GenCo consortium for nuclear power plant construction
(notified on Feb. 4/deadline March 10)
-- LVMH LVMH.PA is combining its private equity and real
estate units with U.S. private equity firm Catterton to form L
Catterton (notified on Feb. 4/deadline March 10/simplified)
MARCH 11
-- Nordic Capital to acquire Scandinavian fruits and
vegetables distributor Greendeli Investment Holding (notified
Feb. 5/deadline March 11/simplified)
MARCH 15
-- U.S. conglomerate United Technologies Corp (N:UTX) UTX.N to
acquire Italian water heating appliances maker Riello Group
(notified Feb. 9/deadline March 15/simplified)
-- China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) CNNCC.UL to
acquire German industrial machinery maker KraussMaffei Group
KMGER.UL (notified Feb. 9/deadline March 15)
MARCH 16
-- Slot machine maker Loewen Entertainment German gambling
halls operator Safari Holding and Schmidt Gruppe Service
Gesellschaft fur Spielerschutz und pravention to set up a joint
venture (notified Feb. 10/deadline March 16/simplified)
-- French company Avril Pole Animal and German meat product
processor Tonnies International Holding to set up a joint
venture (notified Feb. 10/deadline March 16/simplified)
MARCH 17
-- British plastic packaging company RPC Group RPC.L to
acquire French bottle-top maker Global Closure Systems (notified
Feb. 11/deadline March 17/simplified)
MARCH 18
-- U.S. car parts distributor LKQ Corp LKQ.O to acquire
Italy's Rhiag Group from private equity firm Apax Partners LLP
(notified Feb. 12/deadline March 18)
MARCH 22
-- Private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe to acquire
car parts maker Mecaplast Group (notified Feb. 16/deadline March
22/simplified)
-- Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin producer Indorama
Netherlands to acquire Guadarranque Polyester (notified Feb.
16/deadline March 22)
-- Private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe SAS to
acquire car parts maker Mecaplast Group (notified Feb.
16/deadline March 22/simplified)
MARCH 30
-- CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd 0001.HK and Vimpelcom VIP.O
to merge their Italian mobile operations (notified Feb.
5/deadline extended to March 30 from March 11 after the Italian
competition authority requested to take over the case)
-- Japanese employment agency Recruit 6098.T to acquire
Dutch peer USG People USGP.AS (notified Feb. 19/deadline March
30/simplified)
APRIL 1
-- British rivate equity firm Bridgepoint Group to acquire
Polish children's apparel and toy store chain SMYK Group
(notified Feb. 23/deadline April 1/simplified)
APRIL 22
-- Hutchison Whampoa 0001.HK to acquire Telefonica 's
TEF.MC O2 UK subsidiary (notified Sept. 11/deadline extended
for the fifth time to April 22 from April 18)
JULY 12
-- Airbus Safran Launchers, a 50/50 joint venture between
Airbus AIR.PA and Safran SAF.PA , to acquire sole control of
satellite group Arianespace (notified on Jan. 8/deadline
extended to July 12 from Feb. 26 after the Commission opened an
in-depth investigation)
SUSPENDED
-- Oilfield services provider Halliburton (N:HAL) HAL.N to buy
rival Baker Hughes BHI.N in a stock and cash transaction
(notified Nov. 27/deadline suspended on Feb. 18 after companies
failed to provide some information)
-- SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state energy company, to buy stakes
in Greek natural gas grid operator DESFA from Greek natural gas
utility DEPA (notified Oct. 1/deadline suspended on Jan. 21)
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.