Tuesday November 24, 05:09 PM
EU mergers and takeovers (Nov 24)
BRUSSELS, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The following are planned mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS:
-- Italian bank Unicredit (Milan: UCG.MI - news) and Italian investment bank Banca IMI SpA transform existing joint venture TLX SpA into a full-function joint venture, EuroTLX Societa di Intermediazione SpA (approved Nov. 23)
-- U.S. private equity investor Advent International to acquire German software company GFKL Financial Services AG (approved Nov. 24)
-- Dutch animal feed producer Nutreco International BV to acquire control of the Spanish and Portuguese animal nutrition businesses of livestock company Cargill (approved Nov. 24)
NEW LISTINGS:
-- French bank Credit Agricole (ACA.NX - news) to acquire parts of Societe Generale Asset Management (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES:
None
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE:
NOV 26
-- U.S. investment fund Apollo Management LP and its affiliates acquire U.S. flexible film and packaging company Pliant Corp (notified Oct. 21/deadline Nov. 26/simplified)
-- Swiss financial services company Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS - news) and U.S. industrial services group General Electric Co , through their jointly controlled private equity fund Global Infrastructure Partners and affiliated funds, acquire sole control of Gatwick Airport Ltd, currently owned by British airport management group BAA Airports Ltd (notified Oct. 21/deadline Nov. 26/simplified)
NOV 30
-- Australian packaging group Amcor Ltd to acquire control of mining company Rio Tinto plc (LSE: RIO.L - news) 's packaging units Global Tobacco Packaging, Global Pharmaceutical Packaging, Food Packaging Europe and Food Packaging Asia (notified Oct. 23/deadline Nov. 30)
-- British investment fund CVC Partners SICAV-FIS S.A. and its affiliate CVC Luxembourg to acquire certain breweries in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and other central European countries from Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (notified Oct. 23/deadline Nov. 30/simplified)
-- Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal (Amsterdam: NSCNL0001MT7.AS - news) through its subsidiary ArcelorMittal Netherlands BV and the Miglani family of India, acquire joint control of Indian steel product producer Uttam Galva Steels Ltd (notified Oct. 23/deadline Nov. 30)
DEC 2
-- Japanese semiconductor maker Renesas Technology Corp, jointly controlled by Hitachi Ltd (Xetra: 853219 - news) and Mitsubishi Electric Corp, merges with NEC Electronics Corp , controlled by Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp (notified Oct. 27/deadline Dec. 2)
DEC 3
-- Financial management consulting company Towers Perrin, Foster & Crosby Inc. to merge with peer Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc (notified Oct. 14/deadline Dec. 3)
DEC 4
-- Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia Corp and German business software specialist SAP AG (Xetra: 716460 - news) form a German joint venture to offer product authentication and anti-counterfeit services to business customers and government authorities (notified Oct. 29/deadline Dec. 4/simplified)
-- German construction company Bilfinger Berger AG acquires control of Austrian industrial services firm MCE AG (notified Oct. 29/deadline Dec. 4/simplified/changed to non-simplified on Nov. 19)
DEC 7
-- Saint Gobain Glass France, controlled by French glass maker Saint-Gobain SA; and Turkey-based Trakya Cam Sanayii AS, owned by Turkish glass company Sisecam, take joint control of Saint Gobain Glass Egypt, a maker of glass for building and automotive applications (notified Oct. 30/deadline Dec. 7/simplified)
DEC 9
-- MDC-V Holdings Sarl, part of Abu Dhabi investment vehicle Mubadala Development Co, and Veolia Eau Compagnie Generale des Eaux S.C.A., which belongs to French water and waste management group Veolia Environnement (VIE.NX - news) , to acquire joint control of water supply company Azaliya (notified Nov. 4/deadline Dec. 9/simplified)
-- French investment funds Aerofund and Aerofund II, controlled by ACE Management; Canadian investment fund Fonds de Solidarite des Travailleurs du Quebec FTQ; and French state fund Fonds Strategique d'Investissement FSI, controlled by Caisse des Depots et Consignations CDC, acquire joint control of Canada's Mecachrome International Inc, maker of complex precision components for the aerospace, automobile and industrial equipment industries (notified Nov. 4/deadline Dec. 9/simplified)
-- Belgium's Fortis Insurance International, controlled by financial services group Fortis SA/NV and Fortis NV, and BNP Paribas Assurance, part of French bank BNP Paribas (BNP.NX - news) , to acquire joint control of Italian insurer UBI Assicurazioni S.p.A (notified Nov. 4/deadline Dec. 9/simplified)
DEC 10
-- Luxembourg's Leisure Park Holdings, a subsidiary of Jersey Channel Islands-based investment firm Investindustrial Group and Spain's theme part resort owner Criteria Caixa Corp SA , which belongs to La Caixa Group, acquire join control of Activos Port Aventura leisure parks in Spain (notified Nov. 11/deadline Dec. 10/simplified)
DEC 11
-- Luxembourg-based special purpose vehicle Boreas Holdings S.a.r.l, owned by investment funds TCW Energy XIV and European Clean Energy Fund and managed by Britain's TCW Asset Management Co, a subsidiary of U.S The TCW Group Inc, and wholly owned by French bank Societe Generale S.A.; and Centrica Renewable Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of British utility Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) , to acquire joint control of Centrica's windfarm developer GLID Wind Farms TopCo Ltd (notified Nov. 6/deadline Dec. 11/simplified)
-- Canadian investment fund Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board and Guernsey-based global banking, financial and advisory services firm Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund LP, part of Australia's Macquarie Group, acquire joint control of Britain's Bristol International Airport Ltd (notified Nov. 6/deadline Dec. 11)
-- Brazilian holding company J&F Participacoes S.A. and Brazilian investment fund ZMF Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes to acquire joint control of parts of Brazilian meat manufacturers JBS and Bertin S.A. (notified Nov. 6/deadline Dec. 11/simplified)
DEC 14
-- U.S. food group Kraft Foods Inc to acquire British candy maker Cadbury Plc (notified Nov. 9/deadline Dec. 14)
-- Eurotank Belgium B.V., controlled by Dutch oil trader Vitol Holding B.V., to acquire control of Belgian bitumen producer Petroplus Refining Antwerp N.V. and Petroplus Refining Antwerp Bitumen N.V. (notified Nov. 9/deadlinie Dec. 14/simplified)
-- Privately-owned oil trader Normeston Trading Ltd and Hungarian energy company MOL to acquire joint control of MOL Energy Trade Ltd (notified Nov. 9/deadline Dec. 14)
-- Netherlands Antilles investment firm Hal Investments to acquire control of Italian eyewear maker Safilo Group S.p.A (notified Nov. 9/deadline Dec. 14)
DEC 15
-- Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) (RBS) and Germany's Deutsche Bank (Xetra: 514000 - news) acquire joint control of U.S. firm Spin HoldCo, the parent company of Coinmatch Service Corp, a supplier of outsourced laundry equipment services (notified Nov. 10/deadline Dec. 15/simplified)
DEC 16
-- U.S. asset manager Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and buyout firm General Atlantic to acquire joint control of TASC, the consulting unit of U.S. defence contractor Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC - news) (notified Nov. 11/deadline Dec. 16/simplified)
DEC 18
-- Channel Island-based private equity investment fund Altor Fund III GP Ltd, acquires sole control of Pharmacy Company Sweden 1 AB and Pharmacy Company Sweden 8 AB, both owned by state-controlled Apoteket AB (notified Nov. 13/deadline Dec. 18/simplified)
-- U.S. oil and gas exploration firm Occidental Petroleum Corp (NYSE: OXY - news) acquires control of all of Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) 's energy trading business Phibro (notified Nov. 13/deadline Dec. 18/simplified)
DEC 21
-- Brazilian meat processor Marfrig Alimentos to take control of Brazilian counterpart Seara (notified Nov. 16/deadline Dec. 21)
-- U.S. specialty and intermediate chemical supplier Huntsman Corp acquires sole control of assets of Tronox Inc (NYSE: TRX - news) , a U.S. maker of titanium dioxide pigment (notified Nov. 16/deadline Dec. 21)
DEC 22
-- Japanese imaging products maker Canon Inc to acquire Oce NV, a Dutch supplier of digital printing systems, software and services (notified Nov. 17/deadline Dec. 22)
-- Irish fuel distributor DCC Energy Ltd acquires control of Shell Direct Austria GmbH, a domestic distributor of heating oils, controlled by Royal Dutch Shell Plc (Amsterdam: RDSA.AS - news) (notified Nov. 17/deadline Dec. 22/simplified)
DEC 23
-- French bank Credit Agricole to acquire parts of French asset manager SGAM Group via shares and assets (notified Oct. 14/deadline Nov. 19/withdrawn Nov. 19/re-notified Nov.19/changed from simplified Nov. 19/new deadline Dec. 23)
-- Luxembourg-based private equity investment fund OCM Luxembourg Glasnost Holding Sarl, belonging to the Oaktree Group
to acquire control of Cougard Investment SAS and its subsidiary SGD, a French supplier of specialty glass packaging in the perfumery, cosmetic and pharmaceutical products industry (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23/simplified)
-- Germany's Bayrische Landesbank - BayernLB, controlled by the German Free State of Bavaria, acquires Luxembourg-based private and cooperate banking firm LBLux SA, jointly controlled by BayernLB and Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen Girozentrale (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23/simplified)
-- Swiss-based human resources company Adecco Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Adecco SA (Virt-X: ADEN.VX - news) acquires control of MPS Group Inc (NYSE: MPS - news) , a U.S. provider of professional staffing solutions (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23)
-- Germany's marine fuel oil supplier Bominflot Bunkergesellschaft fuer Mineraloee MbH & Co KG - Bominflot, acquires control of the whole of SBI Holding BV, a Dutch rival controlled by Seatrade Holding BV (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec 23)
SECOND-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE:
-- U.S. software maker Oracle Corp to acquire computer hardware maker Sun Microsystems Inc (notified Aug. 3/deadline Sept. 3/in-depth investigation opened on Sept. 3/new deadline Jan. 19, 2010/deadline extended Nov. 20/new deadline Jan. 27)
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 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.
|
|
|
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
