EU mergers and takeovers =2

OCT. 2

-- Talanx Aktiengesellschaft of Germany, a life insurance company, buys Postbank Versicherung, Postbank Lebensversicherung, BHW Lebensversicherung and BHW Pensionkasse, all life insurers (notified Aug. 28/deadline Oct. 2/simplified)

-- BC Funds, a financial investor acting through its unit in Guernsey, buys Bureau van Dijk Electronics Publishing of the Netherlands, an electronic publisher of company information (notified Aug. 28/deadine Oct. 2/simplified)

-- Barclays (BARC.L) of Britain, a financial service company, buys Gemaez Cusin and Scapa Italia, food companies in Italy (notified Aug. 28/deadline Oct. 2/simplified)

-- Rio Tinto (RIO.L) of Britain, an international mining company, buys Alcan AL.TO of Canada, an aluminium producer (notified Aug. 28/deadline Oct. 2)

-- Caisse de Depots of France, a banking company acting through its transport unit Transdev, buys Connexxion Holding of the Netherlands, a transport service in the Netherlands (notified Aug. 28/deadline Oct. 2/simplified)

OCT. 3

-- International Business Machines (IBM.N) of the United States buys Telelogic TLOG.ST of Sweden, a maker of software development tools (notified Aug. 29/deadline Oct. 3)

-- WL Ross of the United States, a private equity fund operating through its automobile component units, buys some assets of C&A Automotive Interior Businesses, which makes cockpit modules (notified Aug. 29/deadline Oct. 3/simplified)

-- Tishman Speyer Properties, a developer, and Lehman Brothers LEH.N, an investment bank, jointly buy Archstone-Smith ASN.N, a developer of residential real estate. All the companies are from the United States (notified Aug. 29/deadline Oct. 3/simplified)

-- Fortis Bank (FOR.BR)(FOR.AS) to buy some assets of ABN AMRO AAH.AS as part of a consortium trying to take over the bank (notified Aug. 14/deadline Sept. 19/extended to Oct. 3)

OCT. 4

-- Hochtief Solutions of Germany, and Vinci of France, both construction firms, create a joint venture to rebuild and maintain motorways (notified Aug. 24/deadline Oct. 4/simplified)

-- Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT.L) of Britain buys Altadis ALT.MC tobacco firm of Spain (notified Aug. 30/deadline Oct. 4)

OCT. 5

-- Wacker Chemie of Germany, a chemical firm, and Schott Solar of Germany, a solar wafer producer, in a joint venture to produce crystalline solar wafers (notified Aug. 31/deadline Oct. 5/simplified)

-- Avnet (AVT.N) , a U.S. electronics distributor, buys infrastructure division of Magirus Group of Germany (notified Aug. 31/deadline Oct. 5)

-- Luxembourg's PVC Holding Co, controlled by Arcapita Bank of Bahrain, to take over HT Luxembourg, the holding company of HT Troplast Group, a maker of vinyl profiles for windows and doors (notified Aug. 31/deadline Oct. 5/simplified)

OCT. 8

-- Thomson Corp TOC.TO of Canada buys Reuters Group PLC RTR.L of Britain. Both are providers of news and information (notified Sept. 3/deadline Oct. 8)

-- Lite-On Technologies of Taiwan, a supplier of computer electronics devices, buys Perlos Corp of Finland, a maker of parts for mobile phones (notified Sept. 3/deadline Oct. 8/simplified)

-- Dutch telecoms operator KPN (KPN.AS) to take over Getronics GTN.AS, a Dutch IT company (notified Sept. 3/deadline Oct. 8)

OCT. 10

-- Sequana Capital (VORP.PA), through its unit Antalis International SAS of France, buys rival paper distributor MAP Merchant Group of the Netherlands. MAP is a subsidiary of fine paper maker M-real (MRLBV.HE) of Finland (notified Sept. 5/deadline Oct. 10)

OCT. 11

-- Gilde Buy Out Management Holding B.V. of the Netherlands, a private equity investor, buys Swets of the Netherlands, which provides subscription services to publishers (notified Sept. 6/deadline Oct. 11/simplified)

-- American International Group (AIG.N), a U.S. insurance agency, gains joint control of Hospitality Invest of Luxembourg, now controlled solely by real estate firm Orco Property Group of Luxembourg (notified Sept. 6/deadline Oct. 11/simplified)

OCT. 12

-- Owens Corning (OC.N) of the United States buys parts of the glass fibre reinforcement and composite fabrics activities of Compagnie de Saint Gobain (SGOB.PA) of France (notified Sept. 7/deadline Oct. 12/simplified)

OCT. 17

-- Jabil Circuit Inc (JBL.N), a U.S. electronics firm, buys two Italian-based subsidiaries of Nokia Siemens Networks that make microwave and base station equipment (notified Sept. 12/deadline Oct. 17/simplified)

-- Danone (DANO.PA) of France, which among other things makes baby food, buys Numico NUMCc.AS of the Netherlands, which also makes baby food (notified Sept. 12/deadline Oct. 17)

SECOND-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

OCT. 10

-- Sony (6758.T) of Japan and Bertelsmann [BERT.UL] of Germany refile updated application for approval of their music joint venture, Sony-BMG, after first approval overturned by a court (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 1, when in-depth probe opened/deadline July 2/suspended March 23/suspension lifted June 26/new deadline Oct. 10)

OCT. 14

-- MAN (MANG.DE), a German producer of trucks, and Hoermann Industrie, a German engineering firm, jointly buy control of Hoermann Automotive Components, a truck parts producer (notified Sept. 4/deadline Oct. 9/simplified)

OCT. 18

-- General Electric's (GE.N) GE Money buys Bank BPH of Poland and BPH TFI, which provide retail and corporate banking (notified Sept. 13/deadline Oct. 18/simplified)

OCT. 19

-- Blackstone Group (BX.N) of the United States, an asset management group buys Hilton Hotels HLT.N (notified Sept. 14/deadline Oct. 19)

DEC 12

-- Austrian machinery maker A-TEC Industries (ATEC.VI) to buy 99 percent of German peer Lentjes (notified June 29/deadline Aug. 3/in-depth probe ordered Aug. 3/deadline Dec. 12)

DEC. 14

-- Syniverse Technologies Inc (SVR.N) of the United States to buy the wireless business of Billing Services Group Plc BILL.L of Britain for $290 million (notified June 5/deadline July 10/in-depth investigation opened July 10/new deadline Nov. 16/additional extension on Aug. 1/new deadline Dec. 14)

JAN. 11, 2008

-- Ineos Group Ltd, a British chemicals maker, buys Kerling ASA of Norway, a producer of PVC and caustic soda, from Norsk Hydro Group (NHY.OL) (notified July 19/deadline Aug. 24/extended to Sept. 7/in-depth probe ordered Sept. 7/deadline Jan. 11, 2008)

FEB. 5, 2008

-- Norddeutsche Affinerie (NAFG.DE) of Germany to purchase rival copper smelter Cumerio CUMR.BR of Belgium (notified July 30/deadline Sept. 4/extended to Sept. 18, when in-depth probe opened/deadline Feb. 5, 2008)

GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESS

DEADLINES:

The 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 a 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 reasons for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified -- that is, ordinary first-stage reviews -- until they are approved.