EU mergers and takeovers (Nov 3)

BRUSSELS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS

-- France's CNP Assurances, Australian investment bank Macquarie and French insurer Predica, which is a unit of French bank Credit Agricole, to acquire joint control of French petroleum product storage company Pisto (approved Oct. 31)

-- China's Legend Holdings to acquire 90 percent of Banque Internationale a Luxembourg (BIL) from Qatari investment vehicle Precision Capital (approved Oct. 31)

NEW LISTINGS

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

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

-- 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)

EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES

-- Italian eyewear maker Luxottica and French lens manufacturer Essilor to merge (notified Aug. 22/deadline suspended on Oct. 25 after companies failed to provide important information)

FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE

NOV 8

-- Private equity-backed Neptune Oil & Gas to acquire majority stake in French utility Engie's exploration and production business (notified Oct.2/deadline Nov.8/simplified)

NOV 11

-- 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equity firm New Mountain Capital, to acquire laboratory equipment distributor VWR (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov. 17/withdrawn Oct. 9/refiled Oct. 11)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 13

-- Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal to acquire Italian steel plant (notified Sept. 21/deadline eztended to Nov. 13 from Oct. 26 after ArcelorMittal offered concessions)

NOV 14

-- French insurer Axa and Dutch property developer Unibail-Rodamco to jointly acquire a shopping centre in Leipzig, Germany (notified Oct. 6/deadline Nov. 14)

NOV 16

-- Public pension fund provider ATP and Canadian teachers' pension fund OTPP to jointly acquire Danish airport operator Copenhagen airports (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 16/simplified)

-- West Midland Holdings Ltd, which is a joint venture between Dutch rail operator Abellio Transport Holding BV, East Japan Railway Co and Mitsui Co, to acquire the West Midlands franchise from London & Birmingham Railway Ltd (notified Oct. 10/deadline Nov. 16/simplified)

NOV 20

-- U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman to acquire Danish payments provider Nets (notified Oct. 12/deadline Nov. 20/simplified)

NOV 21

-- Private equity firm Apollo Management to acquire insurer Aegon Ireland (notified Oct. 13/deadline Nov. 21/simplified)

NOV 22

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

-- Techno Polymer Co. Ltd, a unit of Japanese chemicals company JSR Corp, and UMG ABS Ltd, which is jointly controlled by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and Ube Industries Ltd, to merge their resin businesses (notified Oct. 16/deadline Nov. 22/simplified)

NOV 23

-- French insurer Axa and Dutch insurer NN Group to acquire joint control of a newly created Spanish joint venture (notified Oct. 17/deadline Nov. 23/simplified)

NOV 24

-- 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 (notified Oct. 18/deadline Nov. 24/simplified)

NOV 27

-- Commodities trader Cargill and UK poultry supplier Faccenda Investments to set up a joint venture (notified Oct. 19/deadline Nov. 27/simplified)

-- UK oil company BP and holding company Bridas Corp to acquire oil refiner Axion Energy Holding (notified Oct. 19/deadline Nov. 27/simplified)

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 Consginations to jointly acquire French broadband network operator ADTIM (notified Oct. 26/deadline Dec. 4/simplified)

DEC 5

-- 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)

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)

SUSPENDED

-- German industrial group Bayer to acquire U.S. seeds company Monsanto (notified June 30/deadline suspended on Sept. 21)

-- 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)