Announced Actions for August 1, 1997

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: a

• The Commission has granted the application of Baxter International, Inc., of Deerfield, Illinois, to divest by license Immuno Fibrin Sealant, a product in development that will be used to control bleeding in surgical procedures, to Haemacure Corporation, a Canadian firm. Divestiture of these assets is required under a February 1996 consent order designed to restore competition for the development of fibrin sealant allegedly injured as a result of Baxter's acquisition of Immuno International. (See Dec. 19, 1996 news release for more details regarding this case; Docket No. C-3726; Commission vote to approve the divestiture was 4-0, with Commissioner Roscoe B. Starek, III, recused.) Staff contact is Elizabeth A. Piotrowski, 202-326-2623.

Consent agreements given final approval: Following a public comment period on each, the Commission has made final consent agreements with the following entities. The Commission action makes the consent orders binding on the respondents.

• The order with Softsearch Holdings, Inc., of Abilene, Texas, and Geoquest International Holdings, Inc., of Houston, Texas, settles charges in connection with the merger of Dwight's EnergyData (a subsidiary of Softsearch based in Richardson, Texas) and its principal competitor, Petroleum Information Corporation (a subsidiary of Geoquest based in Houston). The FTC alleged that the merger would create a monopoly for U.S. gas and oil production and well history data, in violation of federal antitrust laws. The order is designed to restore competition by requiring Dwight's to license a set of complete well history and production data to a Commission-approved buyer, which then will be an independent competitor. The licensee candidate, HPDI, L.L.C., of Austin, Texas, which had been named in the proposed consent order, withdrew itself from consideration. Therefore, pursuant to the final order, the Commission now has appointed Ben C. Burkett, II, of Burkett Consulting in Dallas, Texas (phone: 972-239-9037), as trustee to find a licensee and complete the required divestiture. In addition, under the order, Tobin Data Graphics, L.L.C., of San Antonio, Texas, will provide the licensee the same rights to distribution its own well location data as Tobin now provides to Dwight's. (See Dec. 5, 1996 news release for more details regarding this case; Docket No. C-3759; Commission vote on July 28 to issue order as final and appoint Burkett as trustee was 5-0.) Staff contact is George S. Cary, 202-326-3741.

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.