EU mergers and takeovers (May 15) =2

MAY 16

-- Autogrill SpA (AGL.MI) of Italy, which sells food, beverages and retail travel services, buys World Duty Free Ltd, a British retailer of travel services (notified April 7/deadline May 16)

MAY 19

-- U.S. electronic components company Arrow Electronics (ARW.N) buys French IT products company Logix (notified April 8/deadline May 19)

MAY 20

-- Rewe Grossflaechengesellschaft, a unit of German daily consumer goods company Rewe Gruppe, acquires control of the whole of German cash and carry markets Fegro/Selgros, which operate mainly in Germany, Poland and Romania (notified April 9/deadline May 20/simplified)

-- German vinyl producer SolVin and Russian petrochemical products producer OJSC Sibur (SBLSI.RTS) buy Russian caustic soda and polyvinyl chloride producer OOO RusVinyl (notified April 9/deadline May 20/simplified)

MAY 22

-- Sofinco, a Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) subsidiary that specialises in consumer credit, buys Italian consumer credit company Agos (notified April 11/deadline May 22/simplified)

MAY 26

-- German engineering company Robert Bosch [ROBG.UL] and German automotive components company Mahle GmbH acquire joint control of Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems, a maker of exhaust gas turbochargers (notified April 15/deadline May 26)

MAY 30

-- Waste management company Sita France, controlled by French utility Suez (LYOE.PA), and French car maker Renault (RENA.PA) acquire joint control of French waste management firm Indra Investissements (notified April 21/deadline May 30/simplified)

JUNE 3

-- Vienna Insurance Group (VIGR.VI) of Austria buys a series of insurance companies in Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary from Erste Bank der Oesterreichischen Sparkassen of Austria (notified April 23/deadline June 3)

-- Billa, an Austrian unit of German food and non-food wholesaler and retailer REWE group, buys Austrian food and non-food wholesaler and retailer ADEG Osterreich Handelsaktiengesellschaft (notified April 23/deadline June 3)

JUNE 4

-- Finnish communications networks company Nokia Corp (NOK1V.HE) buys Norwegian software development tools company Trolltech TROLL.OL (notified April 24/deadline June 4)

JUNE 5

-- Boeing Co (BA.N) of the United States and a second aerospace company, Alenia North America, a unit of Italy's Finmeccanica (SIFI.MI), buy joint control of Global Aeronautica, which makes fuselage sections for Boeing 787s (notified April 25/deadline June 5/simplified)

-- German scrap metal recycling company Scholz Recycling buys German peer EKO Recycling (notified April 25/deadline June 5/simplified)

-- A German company active in the provision of stevedoring services to container shipping lines, Eurogate, controlled by Eurokai and BLG Logistics group, and Danish containerised liner shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO), buy German Eurogate Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven and Eurogate Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven Beteiligungsgesellschaft (notified April 25/deadline June 5)

JUNE 6

-- EMC Corp (EMC.N), the top maker of corporate data storage equipment, buys fellow U.S. company Iomega IOM.N, which makes portable electronic storage devices for consumers (notified April 28/deadline June 6/simplified)

JUNE 9

-- ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS) of Luxembourg and Borusan Holdings of Turkey, both steel companies, create a joint venture for hot strip steel production (notified April 29/deadline June 9/simplified)

-- Swedish farm tractor front loader company Alo Intressenter buys French farm tractor front loader company Mailleux (notified April 29/deadline June 9)

JUNE 11

-- News Corp NWSa.N of the United States, a diversified news and entertainment company, acquires control of Premiere PREGn.DE, a German pay-TV operator in Germany and Austria (notified May 5/deadline June 11)

JUNE 12

-- Iberia, (IBLA.MC), the Spanish airline, and Singapore Technologies Aerospace jointly buy Madrid Aerospace Services, which services landing gear for Airbus planes (notified May 6/deadline June 12/simplified)

JUNE 13

-- Renolit of Germany, a maker of thermoplastic films controlled by RAG group [RUHR.UL] and Beteiligungen, purchases SUNcoat of Germany, which works with technical films (notified May 7/deadline June 13/simplified)

-- Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), the German automaker, purchases Scania (SCVb.ST) of Sweden, which makers trucks and buses (notified May 7/deadline June 13)

-- Ineos [INEO.UL] of Britain, a chemical maker, buys a plant owned by BASF (BASF.DE), a German chemical maker (notified May 7/deadline June 13)

-- British American Tobacco (BATS.L) of Britain buys the cigarette business and some other interests of tobacco products maker Skandinavisk Tobakskompagni of Denmark (notified May 7/deadline June 13)

SECOND-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

JUNE 13

-- Sequana Capital unit Arjowiggins Group of France, a producer of specialty paper, buys a paper mill in Germany from M-real (MRLBV.HE) of Finland (notified Oct. 31/deadline Dec. 7/in-depth probe ordered/deadline April 28/on Jan. 10, extended to May 23/15 working days extension/new deadline June 13)

AUG. 8

-- Finnish mobile phone company Nokia (NOK1V.HE) buys U.S. digital map data company Navteq NVT.N (notified Feb. 19/deadline March 28/in-depth review opened March 28/deadline Aug. 8)

AUG. 26

-- Itema Holding of Italy, a maker of textile machinery, purchases Gebrueder Loepfe, also known as BarcoVision, of Switzerland, a maker of sensors and inspection systems for textiles (notified Feb. 20/March 31/10 working days extension/new deadline April 14/in-depth investigation opened on April 14/new deadline Aug. 26)

AUG. 28

-- Associated British Foods (ABF.L) buys some assets of GBI of the Netherlands, which produces yeast (notified Feb. 22/deadline April 2/10 working days extension/in-depth review opened April 17/new deadline Aug. 28)

-- StatoilHydro, a Norwegian integrated oil and gas company active in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, buys Jet Scandinavia, an operator of motor fuel retail stations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (notified March 14/deadline April 23/10 working days extension/deadline May 13/in-depth probe opened on May 14/new deadline Sept. 18)

SUSPENSIONS AND WITHDRAWALS

-- Austrian oil and gas group OMV (OMVV.VI) buys Hungarian crude oil producer and refiner MOL (MOLB.BU) (notified Jan. 31/ deadline March 6/on March 7, extended to July 22/suspended on May 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 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.