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UPDATE 1-EU mergers and takeovers (Nov 24)

BRUSSELS, Nov 24 (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. car seat and electrical power systems maker Lear Corp to acquire car leather producer Eagle Ottawa LLC from private investment firm Everett Smith Group Ltd (approved Nov. 24)

-- French insurer CNP Assurances S.A. to acquire 51 percent of Santander Insurance Life Ltd, Santander Insurance Europe Ltd and Santander Insurance Services Ireland Ltd from Spanish bank Santander's (approved Nov. 24)

-- South Korea's Lotte Chemical Corp to acquire Versalis Elastomers Co. Ltd, which is a joint venture between Italian energy group ENI subsidiary Versalis and Lotte (approved Nov. 13)

-- Chemicals company Albemarle to buy specialty chemicals producer Rockwood Holdings Inc (approved Nov. 13)

-- Mexican chemicals producer Mexichem to buy German plastic maker Vestolit (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 14)

NEW LISTINGS

-- French holding company Eurazeo and Groupe Credit Agricole to jointly acquire two building complexes SCI Lafayette and SCI Stratege (notified Nov. 20/deadline Jan. 6/simplified)

-- Czech state-owned holding company Cesky Aeroholding and privately-owned low-cost Czech carrier Travel Service to jointly acquire Czech Airlines (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 19)

-- Aerospace group Airbus and Singapore Airlines to jointly acquire Airbus Asia Training Centre (notified Nov. 10/deadline Dec. 15/simplified)

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

None

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

NOV 26

-- Aerospace group Airbus and French engine maker Safran to set up a joint venture (notified Oct. 8/deadline extended to Nov. 26 from Nov. 12 after the companies offered concessions)

-- Private equity firm Blackstone to acquire Alliance Automotive from Weinberg Capital Partners (notified Oct. 22/deadline Nov. 26)

NOV 28

-- U.S. medical device maker Medtronic Inc to acquire Irish peer Covidien (notified Oct. 10/deadline extended to Nov. 28 from Nov. 14 after Medtronic offered concessions)

DEC 1

-- Mondelez International Inc and competitor D.E Master Blenders to merge their coffee businesses in new company called Jacobs Douwe Egberts (notified Oct. 27/deadline Dec. 1)

-- Oil major BP to acquire jet fuel business Statoil Fuel and Retail Aviation (notified Oct. 27/deadline Dec. 1)

DEC 4

-- French telecoms operator Orange to acquire Spanish provider Jazztel (notified Oct. 16/deadline extended to Dec. 4 from Nov. 20 after the Spanish competition authority asked to review the case/commitments submitted on Nov. 13)

DEC 5

-- Malaysian palm oil producer Sime Darby Bhd to acquire New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (notified Oct. 31/deadline Dec. 5/simplified

-- U.S. chemicals company Eastman Chemical Co to buy U.S. peer Taminco Corp (notified Oct. 31/deadline Dec. 5/simplified)

-- Private equity firm Vista Equity Partners to buy U.S. business software maker Tibco Software Inc (notified Oct. 31/deadline Dec. 5/simplified)

DEC 9

-- U.S. healthcare information company IMS Health to acquire certain businesses from French healthcare software provider Cegedim (notified Nov. 4/deadline Dec. 9)

DEC 10

-- Santander Consumer Finance, part of Spanish bank Santander, and French car maker Peugeot S.A. (PSA) to set up a series of joint finance companies (notified Nov. 5/deadline Dec. 10)

DEC 11

-- Mining groups Anglo American and BHP Billiton to acquire joint control of manganese miner Samancor which is now solely controlled by BHP Billiton (notified Nov. 6/deadline Dec. 11/simplified)

-- Oil giant Saudi Aramco to buy a minority stake in South Korean refiner S-Oil Corp from Hanjin Group (notified Nov. 6/deadline Dec. 11/simplified)

DEC 12

-- U.S. investment management firm Varder Partners to acquire 51 percent of Spanish bank Popular's credit card business (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 12/simplified)

-- Privately-held Czech airline Travel Service to take a 34 percent stake in national carrier Czech Airlines (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 12

DEC 15

-- France's Lafarge and Swiss peer Holcim to merge (notified with commitments on Oct. 27/deadline Dec. 15)

DEC 16

-- Private equity firms Blackstone and TPG to jointly acquire British mortgage lender Kensington Group plc (notified Nov. 11/deadline Dec. 16/simplified)

DEC 17

-- Private equity firm 3i to acquire Diamond Holding GmbH from German jewellery retailer Group Christ Juweliere und Unrmacher Seit (notified Nov. 12/deadline Dec. 17/simplified)

DEC 18

-- ReAssure to acquire HSBC's pensions manufacturing business (notified Nov. 13/deadline Dec. 18/simplified)

DEC 19

-- Private equity firm EQT to acquire German engineering groups Siemens's hearing-aids business (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 19/simplified)

-- CCMP Capital to acquire 47 percent stake in PQ Corp from Carlyle Group (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 19/simplified)

-- Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems, a subsidiary of China's biggest automaker SAIC Motor Corp., to acquire Johnson Control's auto interiors business (notified Nov. 14/deadline Dec. 19/simplified)

DEC 23

-- U.S. company IBM to take over German airline Lufthansa's information technology infrastructure services division and staff for 1 billion euros (notified Nov. 18/deadline Dec. 23)

JAN 5

-- Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor to form joint venture with media company Schibsted, South Africa's Naspers and Singapore Press Holdings (notified Nov. 19/deadline Jan. 5/simplified)

JAN 6

-- Hong Kong conglomerate Cheung Kong to form joint venture with Mitsubishi Corp's leasing arm MC Aviation Partners (notified Nov. 20/deadline Jan. 6/simplified)

FEB 5

-- Belgian telecoms group Telenet to acquire 50 percent stake in Belgian broadcasting company De Vijver Media (notified Aug. 18/deadline extended for the second time to March 5 from Feb. 5)

MARCH 18

-- U.S. orthopaedic products maker Zimmer Holdings to acquire rival Biomet Inc (notified Aug. 29/deadline extended for the third time to March 18 from March 11)

MARCH 23

-- SOCAR, Azerbaijan's state energy company, to buy stakes in Greek natural gas grid operator DESFA from Greek natural gas utility DEPA (notified Oct. 1/deadline extended to March 23 from Nov. 5 after the 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 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. (Editing by Foo Yun Chee)