BRUSSELS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
-- U.S. medical equipment supplier Becton Dickinson and Co BDX.N to acquire U.S. peer C R Bard Inc BCR.N (apporoved Oct. 18)
-- Dutch warehouse owner Borealis European Holdings B.V., Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board and SSE (LON:SSE) to acquire joint control of UK energy meter company Maple (approved Oct. 17)
-- Bermuda-headquartered reinsurer Axis Capital Holdings Ltd to acquire UK insurer Novae NVA.L (approved Oct. 5)
NEW LISTINGS
-- France's CNP Assurances, Australian investment bank Macquarie and French insurer Predica, which is a unit of French bank Credit Agricole CAGR.PA , to acquire joint control of French petroleum product storage company Pisto (notified Oct. 9/deadline Nov. 15/simplified)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
-- Italian eyewear maker Luxottica LUX.MI and French lens manufacturer Essilor ESSI.PA to merge (notified Aug. 22/deadline extended to Feb. 26 from Feb. 12 after the companies asked for more time)
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
OCT 18
-- German insurer Allianz ALVG.DE to acquire UK financial services group Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Ltd's LV.UL general insurance businesses (notified Sept. 13/deadline Oct. 18/simplified)
OCT 20
-- U.S. life sciences company Avantor to acquire U.S. lab supplies company VWR VWR.O (notified Sept. 15/deadline Oct. 20)
OCT 25
-- Jacobs Engineering Group (NYSE:JEC) to acquire technical consulting services provider CH2M Hill Companies (notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25/simplified)
OCT 26
-- Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal MT.AS to acquire Italian steel plant (notified Sept. 21/deadline Oct. 26)
-- French car parts maker Valeo VLOF.PA to acquire German clutch maker FTE Automotive(notified Sept. 7/deadline Oct. 26/commitments submitted Sept. 7)
OCT 27
-- German chemicals company Evonik EVKn.DE and Dutch peer DSM DSMN.AS to set up a joint venture (notified Sept. 22/deadline Oct. 27/simplified)
OCT 30
-- British company CRH (LON:CRH) plc CRH.I to acquire XI (RMAT) Holdings GmbH, the German holding company of limestone producer Fels-Werke GmbH which is part of Xella International (notified Sept. 25/deadline Oct. 30)
OCT 31
-- French energy company Engie ENGIE.PA and Caisse des Depots et Consignations CDCEC.UL to acquire joint control of a wind power producer (notified Sept. 26/deadline Oct. 31/simplified)
-- Private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe SAS to acquire French furniture disbributor Groupe Bruneau (notified Sept. 26/deadline Oct. 31/simplified)
NOV 3
Private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners to acquire legal services provider CPA Global Group (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3/simplified)
NOV 7
-- Special purpose vehicle ShaMrock Wind to acquire 60 percent of Irish wind farm operator Evalair, which is jointly owned by Luricawne, Fixarra and Luricawne (notified Sept. 29/deadline Nov. 7/simplified)
NOV. 8
-- Private equity firms Carlyle Group CG.O , CVC CVC.AX and China Investment Corp CIC.UL to acquire joint control of French energy company Engie's ENGIE.PA holding company for oil and gas exploration and production business (notified Oct. 2/deadline Nov. 8/simplified)
-- Private equity-backed Neptune Oil & Gas to acquire majority stake in French utility Engie's ENGIE.PA exploration and production business (notified Oct.2/deadline Nov.8/simplified)
NOV. 10
-- German auto components supplier Bosch ROBG.UL and Chinese counterpart Hasco to acquire electric power steering products maker ASCN (notified Oct. 4/deadline Nov. 10/simplified)
NOV 14
-- French insurer Axa AXAF.PA and Dutch property developer Unibail-Rodamco UNBP.AS to jointly acquire a shopping centre in Leipzig, Germany (notified Oct. 6/deadline Nov. 14)
NOV 15
-- China's Legend Holdings 3396.HK to acquire 90 percent of Banque Internationale a Luxembourg (BIL) from Qatari investment vehicle Precision Capital (notified Oct. 9/deadline Nov. 15/simplified)
NOV 16
-- Public pension fund provider ATP and Canadian teachers' pension fund OTPP to jointly acquire Danish airport operator Copenhagen airports (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 16/simplified)
-- West Midland Holdings Ltd, which is a joint venture between Dutch rail operator Abellio Transport Holding BV, East Japan Railway Co and Mitsui Co 8031.T , to acquire the West Midlands franchise from London & Birmingham Railway Ltd (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 16/simplified)
NOV 17
-- Medical device maker Avantor, which is controlled by private equity firm New Mountain Capital, to acquire laboratory equipment distributor VWR VWR.O (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov. 17)
NOV 20
-- U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman to acquire Danish payments provider Nets NETS.CO (notified Oct. 12/deadline Nov. 20/simplified)
NOV 21
-- Private equity firm Apollo Management APOLO.UL to acquire insurer Aegon Ireland (notified Oct. 13/deadline Nov. 21/simplified)
NOV 22
-- Techno Polymer Co. Ltd, a unit of Japanese chemicals company JSR Corp 4185.T , and UMG ABS Ltd, which is jointly controlled by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation MSCHML.UL and Ube Industries Ltd, to merge their resin businesses (notified Oct. 16/deadline Nov. 22/simplified)
MARCH 5
-- 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 March 5 from Oct. 17 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
SUSPENDED
-- German industrial group Bayer BAYGn.DE to acquire U.S. seeds company Monsanto (NYSE:MON) MON.N (notified June 30/deadline suspended on Sept. 21)
-- U.S. smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm QCOM.O to acquire Dutch company NXP Semiconductors NV NXPI.O (notified April 28/deadline suspended from Aug. 17/concessions offered Oct. 5)
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.