Commission Approves Petition to Reopen and Modify Order in Matter of Duke Energy, et al.; FTC Approves Petitions for Proposed Divestitures in Matter of SCI/Alderwoods

FTC approval of petition to reopen and modify Commission order: Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved a petition to reopen and modify an FTC order concerning Duke Energy Corporation, Spectra Energy Corp., and DCP Midstream, LLC. As detailed in the petition, a copy of which can be found on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release, the respondents requested that the FTC reopen and modify its decision and order entered on May 5, 2000, related to: 1) the merger of the midstream natural gas businesses of Duke Energy and Phillips Petroleum into Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS); and 2) Duke Energy’s acquisition of certain midstream natural gas assets of Conoco, Inc. and Mitchell Energy & Development Corporation.

Under the order, Duke Energy and DEFS were required to divest 2,780 miles of gas-gathering pipeline in certain areas of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and to notify the FTC of future natural gas gathering or processing interests they intended to acquire in those areas. In December 2006, Duke Energy and DEFS notified the FTC that Duke Energy intended to spin off its natural gas business, including its 50 percent interest in DEFS to Spectra, a newly formed independent company, and that DEFS would then be renamed DCP Midstream, LLC. The respondents reported that the spin-off was completed in January, 2007 and that, as a result, Duke Energy no longer holds any interest in DEFS or any other natural gas assets in the relevant areas. In their petition, respondents requested that the FTC reopen the current order and modify it to relieve Duke Energy of all continuing obligations.

By a vote of 4-0-1, with Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch recused, the Commission has now approved that request. (FTC Docket No. C-3932; the staff contact is Elizabeth A. Piotrowski, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2623; see press releases dated March 31, 2000 and June 5, 2007.)

Commission approval of proposed divestitures:

– The Commission has approved two petitions from Service Corporation International (SCI) and Alderwoods Group, Inc. regarding 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 the petitions, public versions of which can be found on the Commission’s Web site as a link to this press release, the companies requested approval to divest the O’Hair & Riggs Funeral Chapel in Klamath Falls, Oregon, to O’Hair & Riggs Funeral Services, Inc., and the Ivers & Alcorn Funeral Homes in Merced, California, to Ivers & Alcorn Funeral Services, Inc. and Ivers & Alcorn Merced Funeral Services, Inc. All of the acquiring entities are solely owned by Guy N. Saxton and John L. Yeatman, and were formed as acquisition vehicles for the divestitures. Those divestitures have now been approved.

The FTC vote approving the proposed divestitures was 5-0. (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.