Announced Actions for March 7, 1997

The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following action.

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

• The consent order with The Boeing Company, of Seattle, Washington, settles charges that its acquisition of Rockwell International Corporation’s Aerospace and Defense business would violate antitrust laws by reducing competition in the markets for high altitude endurance unmanned air vehicles (UAV’s), and for space launch vehicles. In the first market, the FTC alleged, the acquisition would make Boeing a member of the only two teams competing to develop these vehicles. The order gives Teledyne Ryan, the prime contractor of one team, the opportunity to replace Boeing on that team, with no significant cost or risk to Teledyne Ryan, thereby protecting competition in the UAV market. The order also establishes a "firewall" to prevent the flow of competitively sensitive information between Boeing’s team and a division of Rockwell that currently is providing wings to the other team. This firewall provision has been modified from the one contained in the proposed consent agreement to allow Boeing to use information that it has developed on its own in other areas of its business that are unrelated to UAVs. In the second market, Boeing would be positioned as both a competitor in the space launch vehicle business and a provider of propulsion systems for other competitors. The consent order establishes a firewall that prevents Boeing from making any space launch vehicle manufacturer’s nonpublic information available to its launch vehicle division, and allows Boeing to use such information only in its capacity as a propulsion system provider. (See Dec. 5, 1996 news release for more details about this case; Docket No. C-3723; Commission vote on March 5 to issue the order as final was 5-0.) Staff contact is George S. Cary, 202-326-3741.

Copies of the documents referenced above are available on the FTC’s web site at 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.