EU mergers and takeovers (Jan 12)

BRUSSELS Jan 12 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission, and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS:

-- Spanish air transport company Iberia IBLA.MC acquires control of two Spanish air transport companies, Vueling (VULG.MC) and Clickair (approved Jan. 9)

NEW LISTINGS:

-- 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)

-- 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)

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES:

None

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE:

JAN 16

-- Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) to acquire Swedish tankers and marine logistics solutions company Brostrom AB BROb.ST (notified Dec. 2/deadline Jan. 16)

-- German oleochemicals company Arizona Chemical GmbH to acquire German rosin soaps company Abieta Chemie GmbH (notified Dec. 12/deadline Jan. 16)

-- Danish holding company Jysk Stalindustrie ApS, which belongs to Universal Cargo Logistics Holding BV, a Dutch firm that operates sea port and stevedoring services in Russia and is controlled by Russian billionaire Vladimir Lisin, acquires sole control of Cyprus sea cargo transporter Volgo-Balt Transport Holding Ltd. Lisin also controls steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMKq.L) (notified Dec. 2/deadline Jan. 16/simplified)

JAN 20

-- Japanese electric wire maker Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd (5802.T) and Nexans Group (NEXS.PA), a French electric cable company, take joint control of Belgian fibre-optic cable maker Opticable (notified Dec. 4/deadline Jan. 20/simplified)

-- Avnet Inc (AVT.N), a U.S. distributor of electronic components, buys British peer Abacus Group plc (notified Dec. 4/deadline Jan. 20)

JAN 21

-- French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA) buys pharmaceutical company Zentiva ZNTVsp.PR (notified Sept. 5/deadline Jan. 21)

-- Mauser Holding International, a German maker of rigid industrial packaging, and Spain's Reyde SA form a joint venture in the same sector, Mauser Reyde Iberica (notified Dec. 5/deadline Jan. 21)

JAN 22

-- Belgian television, telephone and Internet provider Telenet (TNET.BR), Belgian newspaper and magazine publisher Concentra and Belgian free-to-air TV and radio company Vlaamse Audiovisuele Regie acquire joint control of Pebble Media, an intermediation services firm for online advertising (notified Dec. 8/dealine Jan. 22/simplified)

-- Japanese office automation company Kyocera Mita Corp, wholly owned by Kyocera Corp (6971.T), to acquire German office automation products company TA Triumph-Adler TWNG.DE (notified Dec. 8/deadline Jan. 22/simplified)

JAN 26

-- 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)

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)

-- Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS), the South Korean electronics and IT group, and Samsung SDI Co Ltd (006400.KS), a South Korean maker of displays and batteries for electronic devices, acquire joint control of Samsung Mobile Display Co, previously controlled solely by SDI and which makes displays based on LCD and organic light-emitting diode technology (notified Dec. 15/deadline Jan. 29)

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)

FEB 9

-- 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 12

-- Irish airline Ryanair Holdings plc (RYA.I) seeks to acquire rival Aer Lingus Group plc (AERL.I) (notified Jan. 8/deadline Feb. 12)

SECOND-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

None

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.