Announced Action(s) for March 18, 1997

The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following action.

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 granted the application of Wesley-Jessen Corporation, of Des Plaines, Illinois, to divest the opaque contact lens business it acquired in its merger with Pilkington Barnes Hind International, Inc. to The Cooper Companies, Inc., of Irvine and Pleasanton, California. Cooper’s wholly-owned subsidiary, CooperVision, Inc., currently markets a wide range of contact lenses, but not opaque lenses. Divestiture of the Pilkington opaque contact lens business was required by a January 1997 consent order settling charges that the merger of Wesley-Jessen and Pilkington would result in a near monopoly in the opaque contact lens market, and thereby violate federal antitrust laws. The divestiture is intended to restore competition. (See Sept. 30, 1996 news release for more details regarding this case; Docket No. C-3700; Commission vote to approve the divestiture was 5-0.) Staff contact is Daniel Ducore, 202-326-2526.

Copies of the documents referenced above are available from the FTC’s web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Public Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 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.

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