Announced Action(s) for August 17, 2001

Applications for proposed divestiture:

The Commission has received an application for a proposed divestiture from the following: Hoechst AG, Rhone-Poulenc S.A. (renamed Aventis S.A.). The application concerns the merger of Hoechst and Rhone-Poulenc, which is the subject of a consent order issued by the FTC on January 18, 2000. Through the application, Ferghana Partners, appointed as the divestiture trustee by the Commission on August 23, 2000, requests FTC approval of Schering AG of Germany as the buyer of the "Refludan Assets," and of the divestiture contract previously submitted to both the FTC and the European Commission. The application was made pursuant to Paragraph V of the FTC's decision and order in this matter. The Commission is accepting public comment on the applications until September 12, 2001. Comments may be submitted to: Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. (FTC Docket No. C-3919; staff contact is Daniel P. Ducore, 202-326-2526; see press release dated December 7, 1999.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.