BRUSSELS, Jan 29 (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:
--
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES:
None
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE:
JAN 29
-- Sweden's Bonnier AB and Norway's Schibsted ASA <SBST.OL>,
both international media groups, acquire joint control of
Retriever Sverige AB, a supplier of digital media monitoring,
archives and business intelligence services in Sweden (notified
Dec. 15/deadline Jan. 29)
FEB 4
-- French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> buys
pharmaceutical company Zentiva <> (notified Sept.
5/deadline Jan. 21/on Jan. 16, 10 days extension/new deadline
Feb. 4)
FEB 6
-- Japan's Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co to buy Nardobel SAS, a
French maker of dietary food products (notified Dec. 23/deadline
Feb. 6/simplified)
-- German logistics services holding company Kuehne Holding
AG <KNIN.VX>; the city of Hamburg's investment and holding
company HGV Hamburger Gesellschaft fur Vermogens- und
Beteiligungsmanagement mbH, and tourism firm TUI AG <TUIGn.DE>
acquire joint control of German container shipping firm
Hapag-Lloyd AG (notified Dec. 23/deadline Feb. 6)
-- Canadian pension fund manager OPSEU Pension Plan Trust
Fund; Deutsche Bank AG <DBKGn.DE> of Germany; UK financial
services group Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> and Antin Infrastructure
Partners FCPR, an investment fund sponsored by French bank BNP
Paribas <BNPP.PA>, jointly acquire Porterbrook Leasing Co Ltd
and subsidiaries, which supply operating leases for railway
rolling stock and equipment to British train operators (notified
Dec. 23/deadline Feb. 6/changed to non-simplified on Jan. 27)
FEB 9
-- Blackfriars Corp, a British wholesaler and distributor of
electrical and plastic products that is part of the U.S.
Blackfriars Group, acquires Vink Holding BV, a Dutch distributor
of semi-finished plastic products, and its subsidiaries Vink
Nordic Holding AS in Denmark and Vink Kunststoffe GmbH in
Germany (notified Jan. 5/deadline Feb. 9/simplified)
-- Slovakian construction firm Doprastav a.s., belonging to
the DDM Group, and Czech construction services provider
Ceskomoravsky beton a.s. take joint control of a Slovakian maker
and distributor of ready-mixed concrete, TBG Doprastav a.s.
(notified Jan. 5/deadline Feb. 9/simplified)
FEB 10
-- Italian cruise ship operator Costa Crociere SpA,
controlled by the U.S. Carnival Corp <CCL.N>; and Swiss cruise
ship operator MSC Crociere SA, controlled by Mediterranean
Shipping Company Holding SA, take joint control of Marseille
Provence Cruise Terminal SAS, a newly created French venture
that manages a cruise terminal in Marseille (notified Jan.
6/deadline Feb. 10/simplified)
FEB 12
-- Dutch financial services group Rabobank International
Holding BV [] acquires sole control of Poland's Bank
Gospodarki Zywnosciowej SA, which specialises in providing
banking services to rural areas. The bank was jointly controlled
by Rabobank and the state treasury of Poland. (notified Jan.
8/deadline Feb. 12/simplified)
FEB 17
-- Mubadala Development Corporation PJSC, a United Arab
Emirates direct principal investments firm, and Rolls-Royce plc
<RR.L>, a British turbine maker, acquire joint control of JVCO,
a United Arab Emirates supplier of aftermarket services for
large commercial aircraft engines (notified Jan. 13/deadline
Feb. 17)
FEB 18
-- Japanese electronics maker Hitachi Ltd <6501.T> to
acquire control of part of Japanese power-driven tools
manufacturer Hitachi Koki Co Ltd <6581.T> (notified Jan.
14/deadline Feb. 18/simplified)
-- French cosmetic and hygiene products firm Johnson &
Johnson Consumer France, controlled by U.S. Johnson & Johnson
group <JNJ.N>, acquires French feminine protection products
companies Vania and Polive as well as activities in Belgium and
Luxembourg of French feminine protection products company
Georgia Pacific France (notified Jan. 14/deadline Feb. 18)
-- Venture capital firm Citi Infrastructure Partners,
controlled by U.S. Citigroup <C.N>, to acquire part of the
Spanish infrastructure undertaking Itinere Infraestructuras
<ITIE.MC> (notified Jan. 14/deadline Feb. 18/simplified)
FEB 20
-- French capital investment firm Serendipity Investment
SAS, controlled by Bouygues Group <BOUY.PA> and Financiere
Pinault Group, and French TV sports broadcaster Eurosport SA,
controlled by Bouygues Group, take joint control of French
undertaking SPS (notified Jan. 16/deadline Feb. 20/simplified)
FEB 23
-- U.S. health care products firm Abbott <ABT.N> seeks to
acquire U.S. eye health care products firm Advanced Medical
Optics <EYE.N> (notified Jan. 19/deadline Feb. 23/simplified)
FEB 25
-- French banking and insurance products and services
provider Credit Mutuel to acquire French consumer credit
products and services provider Cofidis [] (notified
Jan. 21/deadline Feb. 25)
FEB 26
-- German chemical products company BASF SE <BASF.DE> to
acquire Swiss specialty chemicals firm Ciba Holding <CIBN.VX>
(notified Jan. 22/deadline Feb. 26)
-- Czech electricity company CEZ <> and Turkish
energy and chemicals firm Akkok acquire joint control of Turkish
electricity company Akenerji Elektrik Uretim <AKENR.IS>.
Subsequently, CEZ and Akkok acquire joint control of Turkish
electricity company Sedas (notified Jan. 22/deadline Feb.
26/simplified)
FEB 27
-- J. Aron & Co, controlled by the U.S. Goldman Sachs Group
<GS.N>, to acquire control of substantially all the assets of
the international commodities business of U.S. Constellation
Energy Commodities Group (notified Jan. 23/deadline Feb.
27/simplified)
SECOND-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
-- German airline Lufthansa AG <LHAG.DE> to acquire Belgian
air transport company SN Airholding SA/NV, which controls
Brussels Airlines (notified Nov. 26/deadline Jan. 12/extended on
Jan. 6/new deadline Jan. 26/in-depth probe opened Jan.
27/deadline June 10)
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 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.
