BRUSSELS, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The following are mergers underreview by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EUmerger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
-- Private equity firm Triton to acquire Finnish grocerychain Suomen Lahikauppa from IK Investment Partners (approvedFeb. 25)
-- U.S. carmaker General Motors to buy someoperations belonging to car financing services provider AllyFinancial (approved Feb. 25)
-- Belgian state-owned investment company SFPI to acquire acontrolling stake in Franco-Belgian bank Dexia (approved Feb. 22)
NEW LISTINGS
-- Japanese trading group Mitsubishi Corp andJapanese carmaker Isuzu Motors to acquire joint controlof Isuzu Motors India Private Ltd (notified Feb. 20/deadlineMarch 27/simplified)
-- Germany network grid operator TenneT Offshore andJapanese company Mitsubishi Corp to acquire jointcontrol of German wind farm operator TenneT Offshore 8 (notifiedFeb. 19/deadline March 26/simplified)
-- Italian private equity fund Investindustrial to buy a37.5 percent stake in British carmaker Aston Martin (notifiedFeb. 19/deadline March 26/simplified)
-- Swedish refiner Nynas to purchase certain assets fromRoyal Dutch Shell's Harburg refinery (notified Feb.19/deadline March 26)
-- Dutch dairy company FrieslandCampina to buy Dutch cheesewholesalers Zijerveld & Veldhuyzen B.V. and Den Hollander B.V.(notified Feb. 19/deadline March 26)
-- Austrian insurer Uniqa and Dekra to acquirejoint control of Hungarian motor insurer Dekra-Expert (notifiedFeb. 19/deadline March 26/simplified)
-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equityfirm TPG Lundy to acquire joint control of British electronicsparts maker Exception Group Ltd which is controlled by Britishbank Lloyds (notified Feb. 18/deadline March 25)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
None
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-controlledfoods group Rieber & Soen (notified Jan. 28/deadlineMarch 4)
MARCH 6
-- Irish aircraft leasing company Avolon and U.S. bank WellsFargo to set up a joint venture to lease airplanes(notified Jan. 30/deadline March 6/simplified)
-- Ryanair to acquire Aer Lingus (notifiedJuly 24/deadline extended for the fourth time to March 6 fromFeb. 27 after Ryanair offered more commitments)
MARCH 7
-- Swiss-based trader Mercuria Energy and Chinese energygroup Sinopec to acquire joint control of tank firm VestaTerminals (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7/simplified)
-- German insurer Allianz and German car makerVolkswagen's insurance unit VW Financial Services toset up a joint venture (notified Jan. 31/deadline March 7)
MARCH 8
-- Private equity funds Bregal Fund III and Quadriga Capitalto acquire German jewellery distributor LR Global Holding GmbH(notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8/simplified)
-- Russian oil major Rosneft to buy half ofAnglo-Russian oil firm TNK-BP from British oil companyBP (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8)
-- Austrian investment group B&C Industrieholding GmbH toacquire Austrian aluminium product producer AMAG Austria Metall (notified Feb. 1/deadline March 8/simplified)
-- Investment fund EQT Infrastructure II to take solecontrol of energy producer E.ON Energy, which is indirectlyowned 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 MotorolaMobility's manufacturing operations in China and Brazil(notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)
-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and privateinvestment firm TPG Lundy to acquire joint control of Britishpublisher Romanes Media Group (notified Feb. 5/deadline March12)
-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and privateinvestment firm TPG Lundy to acquire British print managementservices company Mavisbank (notified Feb. 5/deadline March 12)
-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and privateinvestment firm TPG Lundy to acquire British householdappliances distributor Britannia Living Group (notified Feb.5/deadline March 12)
-- Japanese government fund Innovation Network Corp of Japanto buy Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics Corp (notifiedFeb. 5/deadline March 12/simplified)
MARCH 13
-- German automotive company Daimler to acquire soleownership of vehicle importer Mercedes-Benz Austria,Mercedes-Benz financial services Austria, and Mercedes-BenzHungary. (notified Feb. 6/deadline March 13)
MARCH 18
-- Enel to acquire 50 percent of Italian renewableenergy producer Seci Energia (notified Feb. 11/deadline March18/simplified)
MARCH 19
-- Japan's Mitsubishi Corp and Japanese managementand technological support services company Innovation NetworkCorp to acquire joint control of Italian solar energy servicescompany Solar Ventures, which is solely controlled by AMEVentures (notified Feb. 12/deadline March 19/simplified)
MARCH 20
-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equityfirm TPG Lundy to buy real estate developer Brookgate (notifiedFeb. 13/deadline March 20)
-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and private equityfirm TPG Lundy to buy British wind turbine parts maker Ainscough(notified Feb. 13/deadline March 20)
MARCH 22
-- German oil and chemicals storage services providerOiltanking GmbH and oil product trader Gunvor Group Ltd to setup a joint venture (notified Feb. 15/deadline March22/simplified)
-- U.S. conglomerate Honeywell to acquire U.S.mobile computing device maker Intermec (notified Feb.15/deadline March 22)
MAY 30
-- U.S. communications company Syniverse Technologies to buy Luxembourg-based communications servicescompany Mach (notified Nov. 16/deadline extended for the secondtime to May 30 from May 15 after the companies asked for moretime)
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.
Lloyds (LLOY)
