Tag: Merger

Solvay settled antitrust concerns stemming from its proposed acquisition of Ausimont S.p.A. from Italenergia S.p.A., and agreed to divest its U.S. polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) operations and its interest in Alventia LLC, a joint venture which manufactures the main raw material for PVDF. According to the complaint, the proposed acquisition would lessen competition in two markets: the production and sale of all grades of PVDF; and the production and sale of melt-processible grades of PVDF.

Service Corporation International (SCI), the nation’s largest provider of funeral and cemetery services, settled Commission charges that its proposed acquisition of Keystone North America Inc., the fifth-largest funeral and cemetery services provider in North America, raises antitrust concerns in several local markets for funeral services and cemetery services. The order requires SCI to sell 22 funeral homes and four cemeteries in 19 local markets to ensure competition is preserved following its acquisition of Keystone.

The Commission challenged Danaher’s proposed acquisition of MDS Analytical Technologies, requiring that MDS divest its assets related to its laser microdissection business. The proposed settlement is designed to preserve competition in the North American market for laser microdissection devices – a key tool for scientific research.

The Commission challenged Service Corporation International's (SCI) proposed acquisition of local rival Palm Mortuary, Inc.  At the time of the acquisition, SCI, the nation’s largest cemetery operator, was the third-largest provider of cemetery services in Las Vegas, Nevada, and after the acquisition of Palm, would have controlled 76 percent of hte market for funeral services, which includes burial plots, opening and closing of graves, memorials, burial vaults, mausoleum spaces, and cemetery maintenance. The Commission's order required SCI to sell its cemetery and funeral home in Las Vegas to complete the acquisition of Palm.

The Commission charged that Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s acquisition of Robin Hood Holdings Limited, owner of Arrow Pharmaceuticals, would have harmed consumers by eliminating future competition for important generic drugs used to treat Parkinson’s disease (cabergoline) and the side effects of chemotherapy (dronabinol). The Commission’s order requires the firms to sell assets related to the two drugs to FTC-approved buyers and to ensure the acquirers have the means to compete effectively in the future.

There is a related federal proceeding and two related administrative proceedings:

• Watson Pharmaceuticals / Actavis Inc.
• Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Andrx Corporation

The FTC announced a consent order that will maintain competition in the market for bulk de-icing road salt in Maine and Connecticut that otherwise would have been lost as a result of K+S Aktiengesellschaft’s (K+S) $1.68 billion proposed acquisition of Morton International, Inc. To protect state and local governments from higher prices, the order requires K+S’s U.S. subsidiary, International Salt Company LLC (ISCO), to sell its bulk de-icing salt assets in Maine to Eastern Salt Company, Inc., and to sell a similar set of assets in Connecticut to Granite State Minerals, Inc.