EU mergers and takeovers (Oct 1)

In this article:

BRUSSELS, Oct 1 (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. investment firm KKR to acquire joint control over Singapore property website Property Guru (approved Sept. 28)

-- Canadian auto parts maker Magna to acquire Italian lighting products maker Olsa (approved Sept. 28)

NEW LISTINGS

None

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

None

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

OCT 3

-- U.S. plane maker Boeing to acquire aerospace parts company KLX (notified Aug. 29/deadline Oct. 3)

OCT 4

-- Private equity fund Lone Star to acquire French company Imerys' roof tiles business (notified Aug. 30/deadline Oct. 4/simplified)

OCT 5

-- Boeing and automotive seat maker Adient to form a joint venture to make airline seats (notified Aug. 31/deadline Oct. 5)

OCT 8

-- Swedish mobile operato Tele2 to acquire Swedish cable TV company Com Hem (notified Sept. 3/deadline Oct. 8)

OCT 9

-- Alphabet's Verily and ResMed to set up a joint venture (notified Sept. 4/deadline Oct. 9/simplified)

OCT 11

-- Private investment firm SK Capital Partners to acquire U.S. specialty chemical company Schenectady International (notified Sept. 6/deadline Oct. 11)

OCT 12

-- Business process services company Synnex Corp to acquire call center operator Convergys Corp (notified Sept. 7/deadline Oct. 12/simplified)

-- Buy-out firm Cinven to acquire sole control of Italian insurer Generali Lebensversicherung (notified Sept. 7/deadline Oct. 12/simplified)

-- German gaming and gambling company Gauselmann to take a 33 percent stake and joint control of casino operator Spielbank Mainz (notified Sept. 7/ deadline Oct. 12/simplified)

-- Investment company Bregal to acquire travel firm Trendtours Touristik (notified Sept. 7/deadline Oct. 12/simplified)

OCT 15

-- U.S. pet food maker Mars Petcare to acquire European veterinary business Anicura (notified Sept. 10/deadline Oct. 15)

-- Qatar Petroleum to acquire a 30 percent stake in two of Exxon Mobil's affiliates in Argentina (notified Sept. 10/deadline Oct. 15/simplified)

OCT 16

-- French equity firm PAI Partners to acquire board game publisher Asmodee (notified Sept. 11/deadline Oct. 16/simplified)

-- Japanese industrial gas supplier Taiyo Nippon Sanso to acquire U.S. industrial gas company Praxair's European business (notified Sept. 11/deadline Oct. 16)

OCT 17

-- Semiconductor company Broadcom to acquire technology company CA (notified Sept. 12/deadline Oct. 17/simplified)

-- 3i Infrastructure and Danish pension company ATP to invest in telecoms operator Tampnet (notitied Sept. 12/deadline Oct. 17/simplified)

-- Private equity company the Carlyle Group to acquire interest in U.S. broadcast services company NEP Group (notified Sept. 12/deadline Oct. 17/simplified)

OCT 18

-- Morgan Stanley Infrastructure to acquire German rail logistics group VTG (notified Sept. 13/deadline Oct. 18/simplified)

OCT 19

-- Italian and U.S.-based private equity firms the Carlyle Group and Investindustrial to acquire furniture maker B&B Italia and lighting companies Flos and Louis Poulsen (notified Sept. 14/deadline Oct. 19/simplified)

-- German industrial gas company Messer Group and private equity group CVC to acquire certain assets from German chemical company Linde Group (notified Sept. 14/deadline Oct. 19/simplified)

-- U.S. software company Microsoft Corp to buy privately held coding website GitHub Inc (notified Sept. 14/deadline Oct. 19)

-- Walt Disney Co to buy the bulk of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc's film and television assets (notified Sept. 14/deadline Oct. 19)

OCT 22

-- U.S. computer and printer maker HP Inc to buy U.K.-based office equipment dealer Apogee Corp (notified Sept. 17/deadline Oct. 22)

-- Private equity fund Lone Star to buy Spanish company CaixaBank's real estate assets (notified Sept. 17/deadline Oct. 22)

-- Shipping group CMA CGM to acquire shipping and logistics company Container Finance's holdings in Multi-Link Terminals Ltd and CD Holding Oy (notified Sept. 17/deadline Oct. 22)

-- U.S. aircraft parts maker Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc to acquire EU-based supplier Asco Industries NV (notified Sept. 17/deadline Oct. 22)

-- German luxury carmakers Daimler and BMW to launch a car-sharing joint venture (notified Sept. 17/deadline Oct. 22)

OCT 23

-- U.S. travel and restaurent reservation and related services company Booking Holdings Inc to buy Australian hotel metasearch site HotelsCombined (notified Sept. 18/deadline Oct. 23)

OCT 24

-- Hong Kong companies CK Asset Holdings Limited, infrastructure company CK Infrastructure Holdings Limited and energy investment company Power Assets Holdings Limited to buy Australian energy infrastructure company APA (notified Sept. 19/deadline Oct. 24/simplified)

-- Fund managed by private equity firm Bain Capital Investors LLC to buy Italian specialty chemicals company Italmatch Chemicals (notified Sept. 19/deadline Oct. 24/simplified)

OCT 25

-- U.S. private equity investor Bain Capital Private Equity to acquire UK insurance service company esure Group (notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25/simplified)

-- French investment bank Bpifrance and French energy company Vallourec Tubesto acquire joint control of Vallourec Umbilicals (notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25/simplified)

-- U.S. private equity investor Advent International Corporation to gain sole control of Irish telecommunications, power and transport company KN Group (notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25/simplified)

-- U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman to acquire German payment system company Concardis Payment Group (notified Sept. 20/deadline Oct. 25/simplified)

OCT 26

-- China Huaxin Post and Telecom Technologies Co., Ltd and Netherlands company Juniper Networks International B.V. to set up a joint venture (notified Sept. 21/deadline Oct. 26/simplified)

-- Private equity fund EQT Fund Management to acquire sole control of French water and wastewater management company Holding d'Infrastructures des Métiers de l'Environnement S.A.S., which indirectly holds 100 percent of the shares and voting rights of Saur S.A.S. (notified Sept. 21/deadline Oct. 26/simplified)

-- Japanese company Sony Corp. to acquire majority control of UK music publishing company EMI Music Publishing (notified Sept. 21/deadline Oct. 26)

-- Canadian companies OMERS Administration Corporation, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, Alberta Investment Management Corporation, Dutch fund manager PGGM Vermogensbeheer B.V. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire joint control of U.S. energy company Puget Sound Holdings (notified Sept. 21/deadline Oct. 26/simplified)

OCT 29

-- Irish investor aircraft and asset manager ORIX Aviation Systems Limited to acquire 30 percent of Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of Chinese leasing group Bohai Capital Holding (notified Sept. 24/deadline Oct. 29/simplified)

-- UK packaging business DS Smith to acquire Spanish corrugated packing provider Europac (notified Sept. 24/deadline Oct. 29)

OCT 30

-- Germany's Thyssenkrupp and India's Tata Steel to set up a steel joint venture (notified Sept. 25/deadline Oct. 30)

NOV 30

-- Deutsche Telekom to acquire Swedish peer Tele2's Dutch unit and merge it with its Dutch business T-Mobile Nederland (notified May 2/deadline Nov. 30 after deadline suspension ended Aug. 6)

DEC 13

-- Copper company KME, which is part of Intek Group , to acquire German peer MKM Mansfelder Kupfer and Messing GmbH (notified June 4/deadline Dec. 13)

JAN 3

-- German copper products maker Wieland-Werke to acquire German copper smelter Aurubis' flat rolled products unit Products Schwermetall (notified June 13/deadline Jan. 3)

JAN 8

-- French aerospace and defence group Thales to acquire Franco-Dutch chipmaker Gemalto (notified June 18/deadline Jan. 8)

JAN 11

-- German company BASF to acquire Belgian chemicals company Solvay's worldwide polyamide business (notified May 22/deadline extended to Jan. 11)

JAN 28

-- Siemens and Alstom to merge their railway operations (notified June 8/deadline Jan. 28)

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. (Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis)

Advertisement