EU mergers and takeovers (Oct 23)
BRUSSELS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS None NEW LISTINGS -- Chinese conglomerate Fosun to purchase French holiday group Club Mediterranee (notified Oct. 22/deadline Nov. 26/simplified) -- Private equity firm Blackstone to acquire Alliance Automotive from Weinberg Capital Partners (notified Oct. 22/deadline Nov. 26) -- South Korea's Lotte Chemical Corp to acquire Versalis Elastomers Co. Ltd, which is a joint venture between Italian energy group ENI subsidiary Versalis and Lotte (notified Oct. 20/deadline Nov. 24/simplified) EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES None FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE OCT 30 -- Dolby Laboratories to acquire digital cinema equipment maker Doremi Highlands (notified Sept. 25/deadline Oct. 30) OCT 31 -- British telecoms operator Vodafone to form joint venture with Ireland's Electricity Supply Board to build fibre broadband network across country (notified Sept. 26/deadline Oct. 31) NOV 3 -- Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways to acquire 49 percent stake in Italian airline Alitalia (notified Sept. 29/deadline Nov. 3) NOV 4 -- PCCR USA, which is part of the Polynt group to acquire all of French oil company Total'S CCP composites business (notified Oct. 1/deadline Nov. 4) -- French construction company Vinci to acquire technology company Imtech ICT Group from Dutch engineer Royal Imtech Group (notified Oct. 1/deadline Nov. 4/simplified) NOV 5 -- 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 Nov. 5) -- Germany company Robert Bosch to acquire the remaining 50 percent of German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen's steering systems business to (notified Oct. 1/deadline Nov. 5/simplified) NOV 12 -- Aerospace group Airbus and French engine maker Safran to set up a joint venture (notified Oct. 8/deadline Nov. 12) NOV 13 -- French mutual BPCE, which is part of French bank Natixis , to acquire 49.9 percent of five subsidiaries of La Compagnie du Soleil and La Compagnie du Vent, which is jointly owned by French utility GDF Suez and Soper (notified Oct. 9/deadline Nov. 13/simplified) -- Investment firm Strategic Value Partners to acquire Linpac Senior Holdings Ltd, the parent company of plastic packager Linpac Packaging Ltd (notified Oct. 9/deadline Nov. 13/simplified) -- Chemicals company Albemarle to buy specialty chemicals producer Rockwood Holdings Inc (notified Oct. 9/deadline Nov. 13) -- Private equity firm Apollo Management to buy Portuguese insurer Companhia de Seguros Tranquilidade (notified Oct. 9/deadline Nov. 13/simplified) NOV 14 -- Mexican chemicals producer Mexichem to buy German plastic maker Vestolit (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 14) -- Dutch mutual fund APG and Hammerson to acquire joint control of property developer Via from property developers SDMG and the Meyer Bergman Group (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 14/simplified) -- Japanese trucks maker Hino Motors Ltd, which is a unit of Toyota Motors Corp, Indonesian car distributor Indomobil and Japanese trading house Sumitomoto Corp to set up a joint venture in Indonesia (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 14/simplified) -- U.S. medical device maker Medtronic Inc to acquire Irish peer Covidien (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 14) -- Mexican Mexichem to buy German plastic maker Vestolit (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 14) NOV 17 -- Private equity firm KKR and German insurer Allianz to acquire indirect joint control of vending machine operator Selecta (notified Oct. 13/deadline Nov. 17) NOV 18 -- Property developer RREEF, a unit of Deutsche Bank , and German property consultancy ECE to jointly acquire properties (notified Oct. 14/deadline Nov. 18) NOV 20 -- Private equity firm TDR Capital to acquire British housing developer Lakeside Ltd (notified Oct. 16/deadline Nov. 20/simplified) -- French telecoms operator Orange to acquire Spanish provider Jazztel (notified Oct. 16/deadline Nov. 20) NOV 21 -- Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (Europe) Ltd and Spanish transport services provider Ferrovial Aeropuertos S.A.U. which is part of Spanish builder Ferrovial, to acquire joint control of British airport operator Airport Holdings NDH1 from Heathrow Airports Holdings Ltd (notified Oct. 17/deadline Nov. 21) -- British insurer Aviva and Polish bank BZ WBK to set up a joint venture (notified Oct. 17/deadline Nov. 21/simplified) FEB 5 -- Belgian telecoms group Telenet to acquire 50 percent stake in Belgian broadcasting company De Vijver Media (notified Aug. 18/deadline extended for the second time to March 5 from Feb. 5) MARCH 11 -- U.S. orthopaedic products maker Zimmer Holdings to acquire rival Biomet Inc (notified Aug. 29/deadline extended for the second time to March 11 from Feb. 16) 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. (Editing by Foo Yun Chee)
