FTC Receives Third Petition for Approval of Proposed Divestitures from SCI and Alderwoods Group

Petition for approval of proposed divestitures: The Commission has received a petition from Service Corporation International (SCI) and Alderwoods Group, Inc. seeking approval of several proposed divestitures related to SCI’s recent acquisition of Alderwoods. In the FTC’s consent agreement and order allowing the transaction to proceed with conditions, SCI and Alderwoods were required to divest a range of funeral home and cemetery services companies. Through this petition, a public version of which can be found on the Commission’s Web site as a link to this press release, the companies have requested approval to divest to Keystone America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Keystone North America, Inc., the following companies and properties: 1) Hankins & Whittington-Dilworth Chapel, Charlotte, North Carolina; 2) Bush River Memorial Gardens, Columbia, South Carolina; 3) Elmwood Cemetery, Columbia, South Carolina; 4) Southland Memorial Gardens, West Columbia, South Carolina; 5) Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, Columbia, South Carolina; 6) Caughman-Harman Funeral Home, West Columbia, South Carolina; 7) Diuguid Funeral Service, Lynchburg, Virginia; 8) Diuguid Waterlick Chapel, Lynchburg, Virginia; 9) T.J. McGowan Sons Funeral Home, Garnersville, New York; 10) T.J. McGowan Sons Funeral Home, Haverstraw, New York; 11) Shaw & Sons Funeral Directors, Inc., Yakima, Washington; 12) Glen Haven Memorial Gardens, Macon, Georgia; and 13) Lambeth Troxler Funeral Home, Greensboro, North Carolina.

The FTC is seeking public comments on the proposed divestitures for 30 days, until January 24, 2007, after which it will decide whether to approve them. Comments should be sent to: FTC, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20580. (FTC File No. 061-0156, Docket No. C-4174; the staff contact is Elizabeth A. Piotrowski, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2623, see press release dated November 22, 2006.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.