BRUSSELS, May 29 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS
-- U.S. communications company Syniverse Technologies to buy Luxembourg-based communications services company Mach (notified Nov. 16/deadline extended for the third time to June 20 after Syniverse offered additional commitments/approved May 29)
-- Austrian mall developer Spar and the property arm of German insurer Allianz to set up a property joint venture (notified April 22/deadline May 31/simplified/approved May 29)
-- Food processor McCain Foods Group to buy potato products supplier Lutosa Business (notified April 3/deadline extended to May 28 after McCain offered commitments/approved May 29)
NEW LISTINGS
-- Giant U.S. food and grain-handling companies ConAgra Foods Inc, Cargill and CHS Inc to combine their North American flour milling businesses into a new venture Ardent Mills, that would control more than a third of U.S. capacity (notified May 28/deadline July 2/simplified)
-- French private equity firm PAI Partners to buy R&R Ice Cream from rival Oaktree Capital (notified May 28/deadline July 2/simplified)
EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES
None
FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE
MAY 31
-- Canada Life, which is a subsidiary of Canadian life insurer Great-West Lifeco, to acquire Irish Life (notified April 22/deadline May 31)
JUNE 4
-- Brazilian investment fund 3G Capital, and Berkshire Hathaway to acquire joint control of U.S. ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co (notified April 24/deadline June 4)
-- Syral China Investment, which is part of Tereos International, and Wilmar China New Investments, which is a unit of the Wilmar group, to acquire joint control of Liaoning Jinxin Biology & Chemistry which is now solely owned by Wilmar (April 24/deadline June 4/simplified)
JUNE 6
-- Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut to buy the cocoa business of Singaporean group Petra Foods (notified April 26/deadline June 6)
-- Austrian chemical company Borealis to buy French oil giant Total's GPN fertiliser business and a majority stake in Belgium-based Rosier (notified April 26/deadline June 6)
JUNE 7
-- Russian dairy producer OJSC Unimilk Co, which is controlled by French food group Danone Group, and French logistics company NDL International, which is controlled by French transport group Norbert Dentressangle, to form a logistics joint venture (notified April 29/deadline June 7/simplified)
-- Dutch staffing company Randstad to acquire some of Dutch peer USG People NV's assets (notified April 29/deadline June 7)
-- Private equity firms Lion Capital and Avedon Capital Partners to acquire joint control of Dutch snack producer AD Van Geloven Holding (notified April 29/deadline June 7/simplified)
JUNE 11
-- Qatar Investment Authority and Qatar state-owned hotel group Kingdom Holding Company to acquire joint control of FRHI Holdings which owns hotels in Paris and Singapore (notified May 2/deadline June 11/simplified)
-- Private equity investor Nordic Capital to buy Unicorn which owns marine transport services company Unifeeder A/S (notified May 2/deadline June 11/simplified)
-- Private equity firm KKR to acquire indirect control of French clothing retailer SMCP (notified May 2/deadline June 11/simplified)
-- French construction group Vinci to buy Portuguese airports operator Aeroportos de Portugal (ANA) (notified May 2/deadline June 11)
JUNE 14
-- Diversified U.S. manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. to acquire mobile computing device maker Intermec For $600 million (notified Feb. 15/deadline June 14)
JUNE 17
-- U.S. media group Time Warner to acquire sole control of TV operator Central European Media Enterprises in which it currently holds a stake (notified May 8/deadline June 17)
-- Private equity firm CVC to acquire sole control of German energy services company ista GmbH (notified May 8/deadline June 17/simplified)
JUNE 18
-- U.S. group General Electric Co to buy the aviation business of Italian plane components maker Avio from private equity fund Cinven and Italian defence group Finmeccanica (notified May 13/deadline June 18)
JUNE 19
-- U.S. technology services company IBM's Italian unit to acquire a new company set up from a business owned by Unicredit Business Integrated Solutions S.c.p.a, part of Italian bank UniCredit S.p.A. (notified May 14/deadline June 19)
-- German investor Joh A Benckiser (JAB) to buy Dutch coffee and tea maker D.E. Master Blenders 1753 (notified May 14/deadline June 19/simplified)
JUNE 20
-- U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines to buy a 49 percent stake in British peer Virgin Atlantic (notified May 15/deadline June 20)
-- Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners to buy out personal computer maker Dell Inc (notified May 15/deadline June 20)
JUNE 24
-- U.S. derivatives and exchange and clearinghouse operator IntercontinentalExchange Inc to buy New York Stock Exchange operator NYSE Euronext (notified May 17/deadline June 24)
-- Private equity firm Triton to buy recycling company Befesa from Spanish renewable energy and infrastructure company Abengoa (notified May 17/deadline June 24/simplified)
JUNE 26
-- Spanish book retailer Circulo, which is a joint venture between German media group Bertelsmann and Spanish company Planeta, to acquire joint control of its wholly-owned subsidiary book seller Yadican together with Spanish telecoms operator Telefonica (notified May 22/deadline June 26/simplified)
JUNE 27
-- Trading house Argos to buy French energy product retailer Etablissements Joseph Wallach S.A.S (notified May 23/deadline June 27)
-- Energy trading house Argos Group Holding B.V. to buy French petrol product retailer Etablissements Joseph Wallach S.A.S. (notified May 23/deadline June 27)
JUNE 28
-- Private equity firms Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital to acquire joint control of U.S. business software maker BMC Software Inc (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified)
-- Investment bank Goldman Sachs and financial services company Thomas H. Lee Partners to acquire joint control of processed food producer CTI Foods (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified)
-- Yamaha Motor Co Ltd and Kayaba Industry Ltd to set up a joint venture in Japan to make motorcycle suspension systems (notified May 24/deadline June 28/simplified)
SEPT 3
-- Greek carrier Aegean Airlines to buy Olympic Air (notified Feb. 28/deadline extended for the second time to Sept. 3 from April 23 after the Commission opened an in-depth investigation)
SEPT 6
-- Swedish refiner Nynas to purchase certain assets from Royal Dutch Shell's Harburg refinery (notified Feb. 19/deadline extended for the second time to Sept. 6 from Aug. 8)
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.