BRUSSELS, March 19 (Reuters) - The following are mergersunder review by the European Commission and a brief guide to theEU merger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
-- South Korean holding company Lotte to acquire jointcontrol of coffee maker Nestle Korea from Switzerland's Nestle (approved March 19)
-- U.S. agriculture machinery maker Agco Corp andGAZ, which is a unit of Russian car maker Basic Element, to setup a joint venture (approved March 19)
-- Infrastructure operator Global Via Infraestructuras,which is 50 percent owned by Spanish bank Bankia, and LBEIP,which is a subsidiary of British lender Lloyds Bank toacquire joint control of Spanish hospital operator OHL Phunciona(approved March 19)
NEW LISTINGS
None
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
None
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
MARCH 18
-- British pension fund Universities Superannuation SchemeLimited (USS) to acquire 49.9 percent of British air trafficcontroller The Airline Group Ltd whose shareholders are BritishAirways, Easyjet and Monarch Airlines (notified Feb. 11/deadline March 18)
MARCH 27
-- French utility GDF Suez, Omnes Capital andPredica Prevoyance Dialogue du Credit Agricole to acquire jointcontrol of Futures Energies Investissements Holdings which isnow solely controlled by GDF Suez (notified Feb. 20/deadlineMarch 27/simplified)
APRIL 4
-- Mexican cement producer Cemex to acquireSwiss peer Holcim's Spanish cement business (notifiedFeb. 28/deadline April 4)
APRIL 7
-- U.S. investment firm The Gores Group to acquire Britishgrocer Premier Foods' Hovis unit (notified March3/deadline April 7/simplified)
APRIL 8
-- U.S. media company Discovery Communications toacquire a controlling interest in European sports broadcasterEurosport International from French media group TF1 (notified March 4/deadline April 8)
APRIL 9
-- Israeli conglomerate Ben-Moshe Group and Dolphin Fund toacquire Israel group IDB Development Corp Ltd (notified March5/deadline April 9/simplified)
-- Dutch company Varo Energy, which is controlled by theCarlyle Group, to acquire assets from Austrian oil group OMV (notified March 5/deadline April 9/simplified)
APRIL 10
-- Japanese chemicals producer Kuraray to buy U.S.peer DuPont's glass laminating solutions business (notifiedMarch 6/deadline April 10)
-- Sale by Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland of somestructured retail investor products and equity derivativesbusinesses to France's BNP Paribas (notified March6/deadline April 10)
APRIL 11
-- Carlyle Group to buy Illinois Tool Works Inc's industrial packaging unit for $3.2 billion (notifiedMarch 7/deadline April 11/simplified)
APRIL 15
-- Deutsche Telekom to acquire control of GTSCentral Europe from a consortium of international private equityfirms (notified March 11/deadline April 15)
APRIL 22
-- Australian investment fund AMP Capital Investors Ltd to acquire joint control of Luxembourg-based trainleasing company Alpha Trains (Luxembourg) Holdings Sari(notified March 13/deadline April 22/simplified)
APRIL 23
-- U.S. cable company Liberty Global to acquireDutch peer Ziggo (notified March 4/deadline April 23)
APRIL 24
-- British engineering group John Wood and Germanpeer Siemens to form a joint venture (notified March17/deadline April 24)
-- Japanese spirits maker Suntory Holdings Ltd tobuy U.S. spirits company Beam Inc (notified March17/deadline April 24)
MAY 2
-- Swiss cement maker Holcim to buy some ofMexican peer Cemex's assets in Europe . (notified Sept. 3/deadline extended for the second time to May 2from March 31)
MAY 14
-- Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica to buyDutch peer KPN's German unit (notified Oct.31/Commission opened in-depth probe on Dec. 20, new deadline May14)
MAY 16
-- Switzerland-based INEOS and Belgian chemicals companySolvay to form a joint venture (notified Sept.16/deadline extended to May 16 after additional concessionsoffered)
MAY 19
-- Hutchison 3G UK to acquire Telefonica Ireland,a unit of Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica (notified Oct. 1/deadline extended for the second time to May 19from April 24 after Hutchison offered concessions)
JULY 22
-- U.S. chemical maker Huntsman Corp to acquire U.S.peer Rockwood Holdings's titanium dioxide pigmentsbusiness (notified Jan. 29/deadline extended to July 22 fromMarch 5 after the European Commission opened an in-depth probe)
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 workingdays to 35 working days, to consider either a company's proposedremedies 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 theclearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without givingany reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified asnon-simplified -- that is, ordinary first-stage reviews -- untilthey are approved. (Editing by Foo Yun Chee)