The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:
_0">APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
-- French insurer Sogecap, which is part of French bank Societe Generale, and Cardif Assurance Vie, which is a subsidiary of French bank BNP Paribas, to jointly acquire a real estate developer (approved May 14)
NEW LISTINGS
-- U.S. group General Electric Co to buy the aviation business of Italian plane components maker Avio from private equity fund Cinven and Italian defence group Finmeccanica (notified May 13/deadline June 18)
-- U.S. media group Time Warner to acquire sole control of TV operator Central European Media Enterprises in which it currently holds a stake (notified May 8/deadline June 17)
-- Private equity firm CVC to acquire sole control of German energy services company ista GmbH (notified May 8/deadline June 17/simplified)
-- Private equity investor Nordic Capital to buy Unicorn which owns marine transport services company Unifeeder A/S (notified May 2/deadline June 11/simplified)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
NONE
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
MAY 15
-- Warner Music Group, which is owned by Access Industries Inc, to acquire Parlophone Label Group from Vivendi's Universal Music Group (notified April 5/deadline May 15)
_0"> _1">MAY 16
_2">-- Czech group Agrofert to buy Italian pasta maker Barilla's German bakery chain Lieken AG (notified April 8/deadline May 16/simplified)
_3"> _4">MAY 17
_5">-- Australian warehouse operator Goodman Group to acquire a stake in a container terminal owned by ports operator DP World Limited, which is part of Dubai World (notified April 9/deadline May 17/simplified)
_6"> _7">MAY 27
_8">-- Private equity firms KKR and Bregal Fund to jointly invest in private school operator Cognita (notified April 16/deadline May 27/simplified)
_9">-- Tokia Rubber, which is a subsidiary of Sumitomo Electric Industries, to buy car parts maker Anvis Group GmbH from H.I.G. Capital (notified April 16/deadline May 27)
_10"> _11">MAY 28
_12">-- Food processor McCain Foods Group to buy potato products supplier Lutosa Business (notified April 3/deadline extended to May 28 from May 13 after McCain offered commitments)
_13"> _14">MAY 29
_15">-- Swedish industrial holding company Lindengruppen and Swedish asset management company Foundation Asset Management Sweden to jointly acquire Swedish metals powder manufacturer Hoganas (notified April 18/deadline May 29/simplified)
_0">-- Otsuka Pharmaceutical, which is a subsidiary of Otsuka Holdings Co, and Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co to acquire stakes in Claris Otsuka Ltd which is owned by Indian drugmaker Claris Lifesciences Ltd (notified April 18/deadline May 29/simplified)
_1"> _2">MAY 31
_3">-- Austrian mall developer Spar and the property arm of German insurer Allianz to set up a property joint venture (notified April 22/deadline May 31/simplified)
_4">-- L. Possehl Co & mbH to buy metal supplier Cookson Precious Metals Business (notified April 22/deadline May 31/simplified)
_5">-- Canada Life, which is a subsidiary of Canadian life insurer Great-West Lifeco, to acquire Irish Life (notified April 22/deadline May 31)
_6"> _7">JUNE 4
_8">-- Brazilian investment fund 3G Capital, and Berkshire Hathaway to acquire joint control of U.S. ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co (notified April 24/deadline June 4)
_9">-- Syral China Investment, which is part of Tereos International, and Wilmar China New Investments, which is a unit of the Wilmar group, to acquire joint control of Liaoning Jinxin Biology & Chemistry which is now solely owned by Wilmar (April 24/deadline June 4/simplified)
_10"> _11">JUNE 6
_12">-- Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut to buy the cocoa business of Singaporean group Petra Foods (notified April 26/deadline June 6)
_13">-- Austrian chemical company Borealis to buy French oil giant Total's GPN fertiliser business and a majority stake in Belgium-based Rosier (notified April 26/deadline June 6)
_14"> _15">JUNE 7
_0">-- Russian dairy producer OJSC Unimilk Co, which is controlled by French food group Danone Group, and French logistics company NDL International, which is controlled by French transport group Norbert Dentressangle, to form a logistics joint venture (notified April 29/deadline June 7/simplified)
_1">-- Dutch staffing company Randstad to acquire some of Dutch peer USG People NV's assets (notified April 29/deadline June 7)
_2">-- Private equity firms Lion Capital and Avedon Capital Partners to acquire joint control of Dutch snack producer AD Van Geloven Holding (notified April 29/deadline June 7/simplified)
_3">-- Finnish paper producer Ahlstrom to merge with a unit of Swedish company Munksjo, which is partly owned by private equity fund EQT (notified Oct. 31/deadline extended for the second time to June 7 from May 16 after Ahlstrom offered concessions)
_4"> _5">JUNE 11
_6">-- Private equity firm KKR to acquire indirect control of French clothing retailer SMCP (notified May 2/deadline June 11/simplified)
_7">-- French construction group Vinci to buy Portuguese airports operator Aeroportos de Portugal (ANA) (notified May 2/deadline June 11)
_8"> _9">JUNE 14
_10">-- Diversified U.S. manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. to acquire mobile computing device maker Intermec For $600 million (notified Feb. 15/deadline June 14)
_11"> _12">JUNE 20
_13">-- U.S. communications company Syniverse Technologies to buy Luxembourg-based communications services company Mach (notified Nov. 16/deadline extended for the third time to June 20 from May 30 after Syniverse offered additional commitments)
_14"> _15">SEPT 3
_0">-- Greek carrier Aegean Airlines to buy Olympic Air (notified Feb. 28/deadline extended for the second time to Sept. 3 from April 23 after the Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
_1"> _2">SEPT 6
_3">-- Swedish refiner Nynas to purchase certain assets from Royal Dutch Shell's Harburg refinery (notified Feb. 19/deadline extended for the second time to Sept. 6 from Aug. 8)
_4"> _5">GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESS
_6"> _7">DEADLINES:
_8">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.
_9">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.
_10"> _11">SIMPLIFIED:
_12">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.
_13">