Announced Actions for January 10, 1997

The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following actions.

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 Feb. 10.

• Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, a French firm, has applied for FTC approval to divest the hot surface igniters business of The Carborundum Company to Graphite Sales, Inc., of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The divestiture includes a plant in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and other assets and intellectual property. Divestiture of the business is required under a June 1996 consent order Saint-Gobain signed to settle FTC charges that the firm’s acquisition of Carborundum violated antitrust laws by substantially reducing competition in three markets, including hot surface igniters, involving products used in industrial furnaces and home appliances. (See Feb. 26, 1996 news release for more details about the consent order; Docket No. C-3673.) Staff contact is Daniel Ducore, 202-326-2526.

Commission action regarding applications for approval: Following a public comment period, the Commission has ruled on an application for approval of a transaction from the following:

• The FTC has approved the application of Hoechst Marion Roussell, Inc., of Kansas City, Missouri, to divest Beraprost, a drug in development for treating a painful leg cramping condition called intermittant claudication, as well as related assets, to Bristol- Myers Squibb Company, of Princeton, New Jersey. Divestiture of this and two other drugs is required under a December 1995 consent order designed to restore competition following the Hoechst Corporation’s acquisition of Marion Merrell Dow, Inc. (See Sept. 18, 1995 news release regarding the consent order; Docket No. C-3629; Commission vote to approve the divestiture was 5-0.) Staff contact is Daniel Ducore, 202-326-2526.

Petitions to reopen and modify or set aside orders: The FTC has received a petition from the following entity seeking changes in, or termination of, an FTC order. The FTC is seeking public comments on the newsly-received petition for 30 days, until Feb. 10.

• The Stop & Shop Companies, Inc., of Quincy, Massachusetts, has petitioned the FTC to reopen and modify a 1996 consent order so as to delete the requirements that Stop & Shop divest two Purity Supreme supermarkets in Massachusetts -- the stores located at 630 American Legion Highway in Roslindale and at 525 Harvard Street in Brookline. The provisions requiring Stop & Shop to divest these and 15 other supermarkets are intended to restore competition allegedly injured in five areas of Massachusetts as a result of Stop & Shop’s acquisition of Purity Supreme, Inc. Stop & Shop maintains in its petition that changed conditions, including the entry of new supermarkets in the com munities, have rendered the stores unsalable. (See Nov. 1, 1995 news release for more details regarding the consent order at issue; Docket No. C-3649.) Staff contact is Daniel Ducore, 202-326-2526.

Consent agreements given final approval: Following a public comment period, the Commission has made final consent agreements with the following entities. The Commission action makes the consent order binding on the respondents.

• The consent orders with AAF-McQuay, Inc., of Baltimore, Maryland, and Filtration Manufacturing, Inc., of Mobile, Alabama, settle charges that these companies made misleading claims regarding the allergy relief, airborne particle removal, and cost savings benefits of using their replacement filters instead of standard forced-air system filters in the home. The FTC had alleged, among other things, that the firms misrepresented the meaning of standard industry tests in making the challenged claims. The final orders require both companies to have substantiation for all performance claims, health or other benefits claims, and efficacy claims they make for any air cleaning product. In addition, the order with AAF bars that firm from misrepresenting that any air filter is a "High Efficiency Particulate Air" filter, a type of filter that scores over 99 percent in industry "dust spot" efficiency testing. The order with FMI, which also applies to individual respondents Gary L. Savell, Horace R. Allen and Brandon R. Clausen, includes an additional provision that bars that firm from using "Allergy 2000" or any other trade name that represents that the product will relieve allergy symptions without scientific substantiation that it does, in fact, do so. (See Oct. 21, 1996 news release for more details about these consent orders; Commission votes on Jan. 6 to issue them as final were both 5-0; Docket Nos. C-3702 (FMI) and C-3703 (AAF).) Staff contact is Michael Milgrom, Cleveland Regional Office, 216-522-4210.

Comments on the application and petition listed above 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: http://www.ftc.gov