EU mergers and takeovers (Nov 16)

BRUSSELS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

-- French insurer Axa and Dutch insurer NN Group to acquire joint control of a newly created Spanish joint venture (approved Nov. 15)

-- U.S. private equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners and HPS Investment Partners to jointly acquire private holding company Ardonagh Group, which owns insurance broker Towergate Insurance Ltd, and Nevada Investment Holdings 2 Ltd (approved Nov. 15)

-- Commodities trader Cargill and UK poultry supplier Faccenda Investments to set up a joint venture (approved Nov. 15)

NEW LISTINGS

None

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

None

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

NOV 17

-- Medical device maker Avantor, which is controlled by private equity firm New Mountain Capital, to acquire laboratory equipment distributor VWR (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov. 17/withdrawn Oct. 9/refiled Oct. 11)

NOV 22

-- Private equity firms CVC and Blackstone to jointly acquire online payuments processing provider Paysafe Group (notified Oct. 16/deadline Nov. 22)

NOV 28

-- Dutch pension fund APG and property developer Hines Cherrywood Town Centre Associates LLC to set up a joint venture (notified Oct. 20/deadline Nov. 28/simplified)

-- German car parts maker Continental Automotive and French industrial group Alstom to jointly acquire a minority stake in driverless car technologies company EasyMile (notified Oct. 20/deadline Nov. 28/simplified)

-- Canadian fund manager CDPQ and U.S. conglomerate GE casubsidiary GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) to set up a global aircraft financing cajoint venture (notified Oct. 20/deadline Nov. 28/simplified)

-- Japanese company Mitsui and Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby to set up a joint venture (notified Oct. 20/deadline Nov. 28/simplified)

DEC 1

-- French oil major Total to acquire Danish shipping company Maersk's oil and gas business(notified Oct. 25/deadline Dec. 1/simplified)

-- Apollo Capital Management to acquire Dutch toy store chain Intertoys Holdings (notified Oct. 25/deadline Dec. 1/simplified)

DEC 4

-- Austrian energy and petrol station company OMV to acquire 40 percent of electric car charging company Smatrics which is owned by hydropower company Verbund and Germany's Siemens (notified Oct. 26/deadline Dec. 4/simplified)

-- Infrastructure fund DIF and French fund manager Caisse des Depots et Consignations to jointly acquire French broadband network operator ADTIM (notified Oct. 26/deadline Dec. 4/simplified)

DEC 5

-- German travel services provider Der Touristik Deutschland, which is part of German conglomerate REWE , to acquire Czech tourism company Exim (notified Oct. 27/deadline Dec. 5/simplified)

-- China's COSCO Shipping to acquire Hong Kong's Orient Overseas International Ltd (OOIL) (notified Oct. 27/deadline Dec. 5)

-- French car rental company Europcar to acquire Spanish peer Goldcar (notified Oct. 27/deadline Dec. 5)

-- Private equity firms Oaktree Capital Group LLC and Pimco to jointly acquire a portfolio of properties in Poland (notified Oct. 27/deadline Dec. 5/simplified)

DEC 6

-- Private equity firm EQT to acquire Dutch dental services group Curaeos Holding (notified Oct. 30/deadline Dec. 6/simplified)

-- Deutsche Alternative Asset Management, which is an affiliate of Deutsche Bank, and UK insurer Prudential's subsidiary M&G Alternatives Investment Management to set up a joint venture (notified Dec. 30/deadline Dec. 6/simplified)

-- Czech state-controlled special purpose vehicle Prisko to acquire Czech coal producer OKD Nastupnicka (notified Oct. 30/deadline Dec. 6)

DEC 7

-- German carrier Lufthansa to acquire some Air Berlin assets (notified Oct. 31/deadline Dec. 7)

DEC 8

-- French insurer Axa and specialist fund Pradera to jointly acquire two Italian properties (notified Nov. 11/deadline Dec. 8/simplified)

-- German air maintenance services provider Lufthansa Technik and and sensor maker Pepperl + Fuchs to set up a joint venture (notified Nov. 3/deadline Dec. 8/simplified)

DEC 12

-- Private equity firm the Carlyle Group to acquire British delivery company and convenience store operator Palmer & Harvey McLane (notified Nov. 7/deadline Dec. 12/simplified)

-- British budget carrier easyJet to acquire parts of German airline Air Berlin (notified Nov. 7/deadline Dec. 12)

DEC 13

-- French bank Credit Agricole's Italian unit Cariparma to acquire at least 95 percent of three Italian savings banks Caricesena, Carim and Carismi (notified Nov. 8/deadline Dec. 13/simplified)

DEC 15

-- German energy group Innogy and European Energy Exchange (EEX) to set up a joint venture (notified Nov. 10/deadline Dec. 15/simplified)

DEC 18

-- German glasswear company Carl Zeiss and Deutsche Telekom to develop smart glasses (notified Nov. 13/deadline Dec. 18/simplified)

-- Japanese engineering company Chiyoda Corp which is a subsidiary of Japan's Mitsubishi Corp, Portugal's Energias de Portugal, energy company Trustwind, which is a unit of a joint venture between France's Engie and Marubeni Corp, Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi, and Spanish energy company Repsol to set up a joint venture (notified Nov. 13/deadline Dec. 18/simplified)

-- Australian investment bank MacQuarie and German storage services provider Oiltanking to acquire joint control of petrochemical storage operator Oiltanking Odfjell terminal Singapore (notified Nov. 13/deadline Dec. 18/simplified)

DEC 19

-- German car parts supplier ZF subsidiary Zukunft Venture, German bicycle parts maker Gustav Magenwirth, German brakes maker Brake Force One and vehicle driving systems maker Unicorn Energy to set up a joint venture (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 19/simplified)

MARCH 5

-- German industrial group Bayer to acquire U.S. seeds company Monsanto (notified June 30/deadline March 5)

MARCH 8

-- Italian eyewear maker Luxottica and French lens manufacturer Essilor to merge (notified Aug. 22/deadline March 8)

MARCH 19

-- U.S. specialty material company Celanese and private equity firm Blackstone to combine their cellulose acetate tow units under a new joint venture (notified Sept. 9/deadline extended to March 19 from March 5)

MARCH 23

-- Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal to acquire Italian steel plant (notified Sept. 21/deadline extended to March 23 from Nov. 13 after ArcelorMittal offered concessions)

SUSPENDED

-- U.S. smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm to acquire Dutch company NXP Semiconductors NV (notified April 28/deadline suspended from Aug. 17/concessions offered Oct. 5)

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. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)

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