EU Mergers and Takeovers

By Editor

Feb 25, 2013 12:16 PM EST

The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: 

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

- Private equity firm Triton to acquire Finnish grocery chain Suomen Lahikauppa from IK Investment Partners (approved Feb. 25)
- U.S. carmaker General Motors to buy some operations belonging to car financing services provider Ally Financial (approved Feb. 25)
- Belgian state-owned investment company SFPI to acquire a controlling stake in Franco-Belgian bank Dexia (approved Feb. 22)

NEW LISTINGS

- Japanese trading group Mitsubishi Corp  and Japanese carmaker Isuzu Motors to acquire joint control of Isuzu Motors India Private Ltd (notified Feb. 20/deadline March 27/simplified)
- Germany network grid operator TenneT Offshore and Japanese company Mitsubishi Corp to acquire joint control of German wind farm operator TenneT Offshore 8 (notified Feb. 19/deadline March 26/simplified)
- Italian private equity fund Investindustrial to buy a 37.5 percent stake in British carmaker Aston Martin (notified Feb. 19/deadline March 26/simplified)
- Swedish refiner Nynas to purchase certain assets from Royal Dutch Shell's Harburg refinery (notified Feb. 19/deadline March 26)
- Dutch dairy company FrieslandCampina to buy Dutch cheese wholesalers Zijerveld & Veldhuyzen B.V. and Den Hollander B.V. (notified Feb. 19/deadline March 26)
- Austrian insurer Uniqa and Dekra to acquire joint control of Hungarian motor insurer Dekra-Expert (notified Feb. 19/deadline March 26/simplified)
- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity firm TPG Lundy to acquire joint control of British electronics parts maker Exception Group Ltd which is controlled by British bank Lloyds (notified Feb. 18/deadline March 25)

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

MARCH 4
- Drugmakers Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca to acquire joint control of Amylin Pharmaceuticals (notified Jan. 28/deadline March 4/simplified)
- Norwegian group Orkla to buy family-controlled foods group Rieber & Soen (notified Jan. 28/deadline March 4)

MARCH 6
- Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon and U.S. bank Wells Fargo to set up a joint venture to lease airplanes (notified Jan. 30/deadline March 6/simplified)
- Ryanair to acquire Aer Lingus (notified July 24/deadline extended for the fourth time to March 6 from Feb. 27 after Ryanair offered more commitments)

MARCH 7
- Swiss-based trader Mercuria Energy and Chinese energy group Sinopec to acquire joint control of tank firm Vesta Terminals (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7/simplified)
- German insurer Allianz and German car maker Volkswagen's insurance unit VW Financial Services to set up a joint venture (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7)

MARCH 8
- Private equity funds Bregal Fund III and Quadriga Capital to acquire German jewellery distributor LR Global Holding GmbH (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8/simplified)
- Russian oil major Rosneft to buy half of Anglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP from British oil company BP (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8)
- Austrian investment group B&C Industrieholding GmbH to acquire Austrian aluminium product producer AMAG Austria Metall (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8/simplified)
- Investment fund EQT Infrastructure II to take sole control of energy producer E.ON Energy, which is indirectly owned by German utility E.ON (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8/simplified)

MARCH 12
- U.S. contract manufacturer Flextronics International to buy some of Google-owned Motorola Mobility's manufacturing operations in China and Brazil (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)
- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private investment firm TPG Lundy to acquire joint control of British publisher Romanes Media Group (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)
- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private investment firm TPG Lundy to acquire British print management services company Mavisbank (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)
- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private investment firm TPG Lundy to acquire British household appliances distributor Britannia Living Group (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)
- Japanese government fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan to buy Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12/simplified)

MARCH 13
- German automotive company Daimler to acquire sole ownership of vehicle importer Mercedes-Benz Austria, Mercedes-Benz financial services Austria, and Mercedes-Benz Hungary. (notified Feb. 6/deadline March 13)

MARCH 18
- Enel to acquire 50 percent of Italian renewable energy producer Seci Energia (notified Feb. 11/deadline March 18/simplified)

MARCH 19
- Japan's Mitsubishi Corp and Japanese management and technological support services company Innovation Network Corp to acquire joint control of Italian solar energy services company Solar Ventures, which is solely controlled by AME Ventures (notified Feb. 12/deadline March 19/simplified)

MARCH 20
- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity firm TPG Lundy to buy real estate developer Brookgate (notified Feb. 13/deadline March 20)
- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equity firm TPG Lundy to buy British wind turbine parts maker Ainscough (notified Feb. 13/deadline March 20)

MARCH 22
- German oil and chemicals storage services provider Oiltanking GmbH and oil product trader Gunvor Group Ltd to set up a joint venture (notified Feb. 15/deadline March 22/simplified)
- U.S. conglomerate Honeywell to acquire U.S. mobile computing device maker Intermec IN.N (notified Feb. 15/deadline March 22)

MAY 30
- U.S. communications company Syniverse Technologies SVRTE.UL to buy Luxembourg-based communications services company Mach (notified Nov. 16/deadline extended for the second time to May 30 from May 15 after the companies asked for more time)

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. 

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