Announced Actions for October 25, 1996

Applications for approval of transactions: The FTC has received an application for approval for a transaction from the following. The FTC is seeking public comments on the application for 30 days, until Nov. 25.

• Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, a French firm, has applied for FTC approval to divest Monofrax, the fused cast refractories business of The Carborundum Company, to Vesuvius Crucible Company, which is based in Champaign, Illinois, and is a wholly- owned indirect subsidiary of Cookson Group plc, a British firm. Monofrax includes a manufacturing facility in Falconer, New York, and other assets and businesses used in the production and sale of fused cast refractories. Divestiture of Monofrax is one of the requirements under a June 1996 consent order settling charges that Saint-Gobain’s acquisition of Carborundum violated antitrust laws by substantially reducing competition in three markets used in industrial furnaces and home appliances, including fused cast refractories (used in glass furnaces). The divestiture is intended to restore competition for the production and sale of fused cast refractories in the United States. (See Feb. 26, 1996 news release for more details regarding the consent order; Docket No. C-3673.) Staff contact is Daniel Ducore, 202-326-2526.

Comments on the application should be addressed to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Copies of the documents referenced above are available from the FTC’s Public Reference Branch, Room 130, at the same address; 202-326-2222; TTY for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. To find out the latest news as it is announced, call the FTC NewsPhone recording at 202- 326-2710. FTC news releases and other materials also are available on the Internet at the FTC’s World Wide Web site at: https://www.ftc.gov