BRUSSELS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
-- French bank Caisse des Depots, Abu Dhabi-based investment and development firm Mubadala Development Co and Vivalto Bel to jointly acquire French private hospitals group Vivalto Sante (approved Dec. 14)
-- Germany's Bertelsmann plans to buy remaining 25.1 percent stake in printing group Privonis from Axel Springer . (approved Dec. 11)
NEW LISTINGS
-- Belgian insurer Ageas to acquire French insurer Axa's Portuguese operations (notified Dec. 11/deadline Jan. 26/simplified)
-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity firm Astorg Asset Management to jointly acquire French drugmaker HRA Pharma (IPO-LABOR.PA) (notified Dec. 9/deadline Jan. 22/simplified)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
None
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
DEC 16
-- Commodity trader Trafigura to acquire de facto sole control of Belgian zinc producer Nyrstar (notified Nov. 11/Dec. 16)
DEC 17
-- France's Michelin and Fives plan joint venture in metal 3D printing (notified Nov. 12/ deadline Dec. 17/simplified)
-- Canadian car parts supplier Magna International to acquire German automotive transmission systems maker Getrag (notified Nov. 12/deadline Dec. 17)
DEC 21
-- Finnish stainless steel maker Outokumpu to acquire shares in Germany's Hernandez Edelstahl (notified Nov. 16/deadline Dec. 21)
DEC 23
-- Honeywell International Inc to acquire British engineering company Melrose Industries' utility consumption metering business Elster Group (notified Nov. 4/deadline Dec. 23/commitments submitted on Dec. 2)
-- Transgourmet, a unit of Switzerland's Coop, to buy Austria's C+C Pfeiffer, a subsidiary of the Pfeiffer trading group, as well as to take a 50 percent stake in centralised purchasing team Top Team (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23/simplified)
-- Novartis to buy remaining rights to Ofatumumab from Britain's GlaxoSmithKline (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23)
JAN 4
-- MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc to buy Amlin PLC, an underwriter in the Lloyd's of London specialist insurance market (notified Nov. 19/deadline Jan 4/simplified)
JAN 6
-- Swedish private equity firm Ratos AB and Finnish insurer Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company to jointly acquire Swedish real estate developer Serena Properties AB (notified Nov. 23/deadline Jan. 6/simplified)
JAN 11
-- Italian state-owned investment fund Fondon Strategico Italiano to acquire a stake in Italian oil contractor Saipem from state-controlled oil company Eni (notified Nov. 26/deadline Jan. 11/simplified)
-- Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp and Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp to acquire joint control of Indonesian motorcyle financing company PT Summit Oto Finance and Indonesian car financing company PT Oto Multiartha, which are now solely controlled by Sumitomo Corp (notified Nov. 26/deadline Jan. 11/simplified)
-- Danish transport and logistics company DSV to acquire U.S. rival UTi Worldwide (notified Nov. 26/deadline Jan. 11/simplified)
JAN 12
-- U.S. conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway to acquire U.S. aerospace parts maker Precision Castparts (notified Nov. 27/deadline Jan. 12)
-- French company Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations to acquire 49.9 percent stakes in three wind and solar power companies from French wind and solar farm operator La Compagnie du Vent (notified Nov. 27/deadline Jan. 12/simplified)
-- Oilfield services provider Halliburton to buy rival Baker Hughes in a stock and cash transaction (notified Nov. 27/deadline Jan. 12)
-- Private investment company KKCG and Taiwanese technology company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, which is also known as Foxconn, to set up a joint venture in the Czech Republic (notified Nov. 27/deadline Jan. 12/simplified)
-- Banking group Goldman Sachs and UK charitable foundation The Wellcome Trust to form a joint venture (notified Nov. 27/deadline Jan. 12/simplified)
-- UK investment firm Intermediate Capital Group and German investment firm Capiton to jointly acquire German resin products maker Prefere Resins Holding (notified Nov. 27/deadline Jan. 12/simplified)
JAN 13
-- U.S. packages delivery company FedEx to acquire Dutch peer TNT (notified July /deadline extended to Jan. 13 from Dec. 8 after the companies asked for more time)
-- U.S. private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners and investment bank Goldman Sachs to jointly acquire U.S. facility management company GCA Service Group from Blackstone Group (notified Nov. 30/deadline Jan. 13/simplified)
JAN 14
-- Private equity firms Triton and KKR to jointly set up a joint venture (notified Dec. 1/deadline Jan. 14/simplified)
-- TDR Capital investment funds taking joint control of British fuel station operator Euro Garages (notified Dec. 1/deadline Jan. 14)
JAN 19
-- French IT services firm Atos to acquire communications firm Unify (notified Dec 4/deadline Jan. 19/simplified)
-- Saudi Aramco to acquire Lanxess's 50 percent stake in the world's largest synthetic rubber business (notified Dec 4/deadline Jan. 19/simplified)
-- Panalpina to acquire majority of shares in Airflo, an airfreight forwarder specialising in perishables.(notified Dec 4/deadline Jan. 19/simplified)
-- Spanish travel technology company Amadeus to acquire airline technology services Navitaire which is a subsidiary of Accenture Plc (notified Dec. 4/deadline Jan. 19)
-- German industrial products maker Freudenberg and Japanese chemical industry group Toray Industries to acquire join control of industrial material maker Japan Vilene Co (notified Dec. 4/deadline Jan. 19/simplified)
JAN 20
-- Creation of a joint venture between Lov Group Invest SAS and De Agostini for the production and distribution of ontent for television and multimedia platforms (notified Dec 7/deadline Jan. 20)
JAN 21
-- Lone Star Fund IX to acquire British fuel service station operator MRH Ltd (notified Dec. 8/deadline Jan. 21/simplified)
JAN 22
-- Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to acquire Japanese forklift maker Unicarriers Holdings (notified Dec. 9/deadline Jan. 22/simplified)
-- U.S. drinks can maker Ball Corp to acquire British rival Rexam Plc (notified June 15/deadline extended for the third time to Jan 22 from Dec. 23 after companies submitted commitments)
JAN 25
-- German wind turbine maker Nordex to acquire Spanish firm Acciona's wind power business (notified Dec. 10/deadline Jan. 25/simplified)
FEB 8
-- South African paper maker Mondi to acquire some assets from portfolio company Walki (notified July 29/deadline extended for the second time to Feb. 8 from Jan. 18 after Mondi offered concessions)
MARCH 3
-- Cable telecoms company Liberty Global's Belgian subsidiary Telenet to buy mobile network operator Base from Dutch group KPN (notified Aug. 17/deadline extended to March 17 from March 3)
MARCH 9
-- U.S. office supplier Staples to acquire U.S. rival Office Depot (notified Aug. 21/deadline extended for the third time to March 9 from March 2 after the companies asked for more time)
APRIL 18
-- Hutchison Whampoa to acquire Telefonica's O2 UK subsidiary (notified Sept. 11/deadline extended for the fourth time to April 18 from March 16 after Hutchison asked for more time)
SUSPENDED
-- SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state energy company, to buy stakes in Greek natural gas grid operator DESFA from Greek natural gas utility DEPA (notified Oct. 1/deadline suspended on Jan. 21)
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 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.
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.
(Compiled by Foo Yun Chee and Philip Blenkinsop)
