Articles Posted in Merger Highlights

On April 13, the FTC filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court of Western Pennsylvania, to stop Equitable Resources, Inc.’s (“Equitable”) proposed acquisition of The Peoples Natural Gas Company (“Dominion Peoples”), a subsidiary of Dominion Resources, Inc. The FTC alleged that the acquisition would lead to higher prices…

On April 13, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico issued a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) to prevent Western Refining, Inc. from closing on its proposed $1.4 billion acquisition of Giant Industries, Inc., pending the completion of a preliminary injunction hearing. On April 10, 2007, the FTC approved a complaint challenging the…

On April 4, the DOJ announced that it reached a settlement that will require Mexico-based Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. to divest 39 ready mix concrete, concrete block, and aggregate facilities in Arizona and Florida in the event Cemex succeeds in its hostile takeover of Australia-based Rinker Group. The DOJ said that without the divestitures the…

On March 30, the FTC approved a petition for proposed divestiture from Thermo Electron Corporation (“Thermo”). Under the consent agreement and order with the FTC regarding Thermo’s proposed acquisition of Fisher Scientific International, Inc., the respondent was required to divest the high-performance centrifugal vacuum evaporators (“CVE”s) assets, to a Commission-approved buyer. In its petition, Thermo…

On March 15, the FTC approved a complaint challenging Equitable Resources, Inc.’s (“Equitable”) proposed acquisition of The Peoples Natural Gas Company (“Dominion Peoples”), a subsidiary of Dominion Resources, Inc., on the basis that the merger would create a monopoly in the sale of natural gas in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The complaint alleged that Equitable and Dominion…

On March 12, the FTC received a petition from Service Corporation International (“SCI”) and Alderwoods Group, Inc. seeking approval of a proposed divestiture related to SCI’s recent acquisition of Alderwoods. In the FTC’s consent agreement and order SCI and Alderwoods were required to divest a range of funeral home and cemetery services companies. Through this…

On March 9, the FTC approved an application for a proposed divestiture from Linde AG and The BOC Group plc concerning an August 29, 2006, FTC consent order regarding the acquisition of BOC by Linde. Under the terms of the order, the parties were required, among other things, to divest the relevant “Atmospheric Gases Assets”…

On March 6, the FTC received a supplemental petition from Service Corporation International (“SCI”) and Alderwoods Group, Inc. seeking approval of a proposed divestiture related to SCI’s recent acquisition of Alderwoods. The FTC’s agreement and order required SCI and Alderwoods to divest a range of funeral home and cemetery services companies in order to guarantee…

On February 23, the Commission approved an application for divestiture from Dan L. Duncan (“Duncan”); EPCO, Inc. (“EPCO”); Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Company, LLC; and TEPPCO Partners, L.P. (together “TEPPCO”), concerning a 2006 FTC order related to TEPPCO’s interest in the Mont Belvieu Storage Partners, L.P. (“MBSP”). Under the terms of the FTC decision and…

On February 20, the DOJ announced Mittal Steel Company N.V. must divest its Sparrows Point facility, located near Baltimore, Maryland to remedy the competitive harm arising from Mittal’s $33 billion acquisition of Arcelor S.A. On Aug. 1, 2006, the Antitrust Division entered into a settlement agreement with Mittal and Arcerlor that provided for various options…