EU pauses Orange and Norsk Hydro M&A investigations

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have paused investigations into French telecoms provider Orange's bid for a majority stake in Belgian peer VOO SA and Norsk Hydro's proposed acquisition of Alumetal while awaiting their data.

The European Commission suspended the Orange investigation on Wednesday and examination of Norwegian metals maker Norsk Hydro's Polish recycler bid on Tuesday.

"This procedure in merger investigations is activated if the parties fail to provide, in a timely fashion, an important piece of information that the Commission has requested," a Commission spokesperson said.

"Once the missing information is supplied by the parties, the clock is re-started and the deadline for the Commission's decision is then adjusted accordingly."

The EU competition enforcer opened a full-scale investigation into Orange's VOO bid in July, warning that the deal could reduce competition in the southern region of Belgium.

This month the Commission kicked off its investigation into Norsk Hydro's deal, warning that the takeover could eliminate a growing rival able to bring cheaper and advanced recycled aluminiium products to the market.

Regulators have become increasingly wary of so-called killer acquisitions where big companies acquire smaller rivals to shut them down.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by David Goodman)

By Foo Yun Chee