BRUSSELS, July 30 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:
— Singapore state-owned property developer GIC Group, real estate developers Frasers Property Ltd and JustGroup to set up a joint venture (approved July 27)
— Private equity firm KKR to acquire British restaurant operator Casual Dining Bidco (approved July 27)
— Asset manager IFM Investors Pty Ltd to acquire waste management company Aqualia from Spanish industrial company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas S.A. (notified July 27/deadline Sept. 3/simplified)
— French utility Engie and French supermarket chain Casino’s photovoltaic subsidiary Greenyellow to set up a joint venture (notified July 27/deadline Sept. 3/simplified)
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FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
— Irish fresh food producer Total Produce to acquire a 45-percent stake in U.S. peer Dole Food Company (notified June 11/deadline extended to July 30 from July 16 after Total offered concessions)
— German copper products maker Wieland-Werke to acquire German copper smelter Aurubis’ flat rolled products unit Products Schwermetall (notified June 13/deadline extended to Aug. 1 from July 18 after the companies offered concessions)
— Italian car rental company Eurocar, which is a unit of German carmaker Volkswagen eurocar, to acquire sole control of Italian peer Bonaldi (notified June 28/deadline Aug. 2)
— U.S. powertrain technology company Tenneco to acquire car parts maker Federal Mogul (notified July 3/deadline Aug. 7)
— Private equity firm Bain Capital to acquire German tyre company Reifen Krieg Group (notified July 4/deadline Aug. 8/simplified)
— Holding company Elixia, which is controlled by Nordic private equity firm Altor Fund III, and Tryghedsgruppen, whose members are policyholders of insurer Tryg, to jointly acquire fitness chain Fitness DK Holding (notified July 5/deadline Aug. 9/simplified)
— French consumer credit provider CA Consumer Finance S.A. and Spanish bank Bankia to set up a joint venture (notified July 5/deadline Aug. 9/simplified)
— Japan’s Sumitomo Corp and Belgian wind farm developer Parkwind to jointly acquire Belgian wind farm operator Northwester2 (notified July 5/deadline Aug. 9/simplified)
— Chinese domestic appliance maker Hisense to acquire Slovenian peer Gorenje (notified July 6/deadline Aug. 10/simplified)
— Fertiliser company Uralchem to acquire sole control of Russian potash producer Uralkali (notified July 6/deadline Aug. 10/simplified)
— U.S. private equity firms Clearlake Capital Group and Vista to acquire joint control of U.S. aerial imagery and software company Eagleview Technology Corp (notified July 11/deadline Aug. 16/simplified)
— Oxford Jersey Holding Company Limited, Dutch investment fund ABP, real estate investment fund DV4 and Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company to acquire joint control of British real estate developer (notified July 11/deadline Aug. 16/simplified)
— French insurer Axa to acquire XL Group (notified July 12/deadline Aug. 17/simplified)
— HK conglomerate CK Hutchison to acquire sole control of Italian mobile network Wind Tre from Dutch mobile operator Veon (notified July 12/deadline Aug. 17)
— U.s. investment company Cerberus Group to acquire French ground handling services operator WES Global Holding (notified July 13/deadline Aug. 20/simplified)
— Norway’s DNB Bank and Norwegian consumer goods company Orkla to set up a joint venture (notified July 16/deadline Aug. 21/simplified)
— Private equity firm KKR to acquire German IT services provider Sellbytel Group (notified July 16/deadline Aug. 21/simplified)
— Private equity firm HgCapital to acquire software company Allocate from private equity firm Vista Equity Partners (notified July 17/deadline Aug. 22)
— Private equity firms S.L.04 and Ambienta SFT to acquire joint control of cosmetic packager Pibiplast S.p.A. (notified July 18/deadline Aug. 23/simplified)
— German industrial gases group Linde to merge with U.S. peer Praxair (notified Jan. 12/ deadline extended to Aug. 24)
— U.S. consumer products maker Procter & Gamble to acquire German peer Merck KGaA’s consumer health business (notified July 20/deadline Aug. 27)
— U.S. cargo shipping company Maritime Holdings and German peer Zeaborn to set up a joint venture (notified July 20/deadline Aug. 27/simplified)
— Private equity firm Blackstone to acquire French storage maker Averys (notified July 20/deadline Aug. 27/simplified)
— French company Europe Intermodal Holding, which is a unit of French group SNCF Mobilites, and Spanish holding company Krone-Mur Servifrio to acquire joint control of Spanish freight transport company Krone-Mur Primavia (notified July 23/deadline Aug. 28/simplified)
— FSN Capital V to acquire Norwegian holding company Saferoad Holding (notified July 25/deadline Aug. 30/simplified)
— U.S. private equity firms Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners Management to acquire joint control of the public sector businesses of Aptean Public Sector, Superion and Tritech (notified July 25/deadline Aug. 30/simplified)
— UK infrastructure support services provider Amey Group to acquire the rest of UK repair and maintenance services company CarillionAmey Ltd from Carillion Holdings Ltd (notified July 25/deadline Aug. 30/simplified)
— German carmaker Porsche and German industrial company Schuler to set up a joint venture (notified July 25/deadline Aug. 30/simplified)
— German food retailers Schwarz Gruppe to acquire waste management companies Karl Toensmeter Entsorgungswirtschaft and Toenmeier Dienstleistung (notified July 26/deadline Aug. 31/simplified)
— iPhone maker Apple to acquire UK music streaming service Shazam (notified March 14/deadline extended to Sept. 4 from April 23 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
— German company BASF to acquire Belgian chemicals company Solvay’s worldwide polyamide business (notified May 22/deadline extended to Oct. 31 from June 26 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
— Copper company KME, which is part of Intek Group , to acquire German peer MKM Mansfelder Kupfer and Messing GmbH (notified June 4/deadline extended to Nov. 29 from July 23 after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
— Siemens and Alstom to merge their railway operations (notified June 8/deadline extended to Dec. 19 from Nov. 21 after the companies asked for more time)
— French aerospace and defence group Thales to acquire Franco-Dutch chipmaker Gemalto (notified June 18/deadline extended to Jan. 8 from Nov. 29 from July 23 after the companies asked for more time)
— Deutsche Telekom to acquire Swedish peer Tele2’s Dutch unit and merge it with its Dutch business T-Mobile Nederland (notified May 2/deadline suspended on July 24)
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.
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 Foo Yun Chee)
