news blog from Randy

EU mergers and takeovers (Oct 12)

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS:— Ugitour, part of French insurer AXA , Caisse des Depots et Consignations and Sogecap, a subsidiary of French bank Societe Generale , to acquire joint control of several Belgian and French properties (approved Oct. 11)NEW LISTINGS:— French company Caisse des Depots et Consignations to acquire 50 percent of a Paris real estate from a subsidiary of French insurer Axa (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov. 17/simplified)— French power and transport engineering group Alstom and Bouygues subsidiaries Bouygues Immobilier and Exprim SAS to form a joint venture (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov. 17/simplified)— German natural gas supplier Verbundnetz Gas Aktiengesellschaft to sell a 25.1 percent stake in VNG Austria to CE Gas Marketing & Trading (notified Oct. 7/deadline Nov. 15/simplified)EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES:NoneFIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINEOCT 13— Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to acquire U.S. specialty drugmaker Cephalon (notified Aug. 25/deadline extended to Oct. 13 from Sept. 29 after Teva offers commitments)OCT 14— Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to acquire a stake in international health club operator Virgin Active (notified Sept. 9/deadline Oct. 14)— Private equity firms KKR and Silver Lake, and funds controlled by Technology Crossover Ventures to acquire joint control of Arizona-registered company Godaddy Group (notified Sept. 9/deadline Oct. 14/simplified)OCT 18— Mitsubishi Corp to acquire a stake in Czech auto car body maker Sungwoo Hitech from South Korea’s Sungwoo Hitech Co Ltd (notified Sept. 13/deadline Oct. 18/simplified)OCT 20— Dutch bank AEGON’s Spanish unit to acquire a 50 percent stake in Spanish life insurer Cajaburgos Vida, part of Banca Civica (notified Sept. 15/deadline Oct. 20/simplified)— Danish dairy coperative Arla Foods to acquire German dairy cooperative Allgauland (notified Sept. 15/deadline Oct. 20)— A joint venture led by Gores Group LLC to acquire clothing retailer Mexx from Liz Claiborne Inc (notified Sept. 15/deadline Oct. 20/simplified)OCT 24— German sugar company Suedzucker to acquire a 25 percent stake in British commodities trading company ED&F Man (notified Sept. 19/deadline Oct. 24)OCT 26— German property operator ECE and German retailer Metro to set up a joint venture (notified Sept. 21/deadline Oct. 26)— U.S.-based Seagate Technology to acquire Samsung Electronic’s hard disk drive business (notified April 19/deadline extended for the second time to Oct. 26 from Oct. 10)— U.S. equipment maker Caterpillar to acquire German maker of gas and diesel engine maker MWM Holding GmbH (notified March 14/deadline extended to Oct. 26 from Sept 16 after Commission opens in-depth investigation and despite commitments offered)OCT 28— U.S. company Dow Chemical and Japanese trading house Mitsui to set up a Brazilian joint venture (notified Sept. 23/deadline Oct. 28/simplified)— German conglomerate Siemens (SIEGn.DE) to acquire Dutch engineering company NEM Holding (notified Sept. 23/deadline Oct. 28)OCT 31— Vitol Investment Holdings, a unit of oil trader Vital , and U.S. energy company ArcLight to acquire joint control of Luxembourg-based Petro Lux (notified Sept. 26/deadline Oct. 31/simplified)NOV 3— Belgian building materials group Etex to acquire German peer Lafarge’s gypsum assets in Europe and South America (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3)— U.S. healthcare company Johnson & Johnson to acquire Swiss medical devices maker Synthes Inc (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3)— Private equity group TPG Capital LP to acquire a stake in Danish online brokerage Saxo Bank from Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3/simplified)NOV 8— German fruit producer Agrana and Austrian equipment maker RWA to combined their subsidiaries into a joint venture (notified Sept. 30/deadline Nov. 8)NOV 10— U.S. cleaning and pest-control services company Ecolab to acquire water treatment services company Nalco Holding (notified Oct. 4/deadline Nov. 10)NOV 14— German industrial services company Buchen Industrieservice to acquire German technical services company ThyssenKrupp Xervon (notified Oct. 6/deadline Nov. 14/simplified)NOV 30— U.S. technology company Western Digital Corp to acquire Hitachi’s hard disk drive business (notified April 20/deadline extended for the fourth time to Nov. 30 from Nov. 9 after Western Digital offered remedies)— U.S. conglomerate General Electric, Russian energy producer and importer Inter Rao Ues and Russian engine maker United Engine Corporation to set up a joint venture (notified Sept. 30/deadline Nov 9/simplified)DEC 13— Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) and NYSE Euronext to merge (notified June 29/deadline extended to Dec. 13 from Aug. 4 after Commission opens in-depth probe)GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESSDEADLINES: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.