Sources: U.S. Federal Trade Commission; CP staff A Federal Trade Commission Mergers staff and Bureau of Economics investigation has prompted CalPortland Co. to abandon a proposed $350 million deal for Martin Marietta Materials’ Tehachapi cement plant near the foot of California’s Central Valley.
Read MoreTag: FTC
Agencies spotlight vertical merger analytical techniques, enforcement policies
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have issued new Vertical Merger Guidelines that outline how the federal antitrust authorities evaluate the likely competitive impact of vertical mergers and whether such actions comply with U.S. law. The document represents the first time the agencies have issued joint guidelines on vertical mergers, and is the first major revision to vertical merger guidance since the 1984 Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines, which were withdrawn earlier this year.
Read MoreFTC pens new Model Timing Agreement for merger reviews
Adapted from “Timing is Everything: The Model Timing Agreement,” by Bruce Hoffman, U.S. Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Competition … Recent FTC Bureau of Competition initiatives are geared to streamlining the merger review process in order to reach swifter resolutions—whether that be clearance, a negotiated settlement or lawsuit. As part of these efforts, the agency has codified a new Model Timing Agreement for Bureau reviews.
Read MoreCRH, GCC consummate Montana cement, Oklahoma and Arkansas RM deals
Sources: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua, S.A.B. de C.V., Mexico; CRH Plc, Dublin; CP staff
CRH Americas and the parent of GCC America have closed transactions coinciding with the former producer’s acquisition of Ash Grove Cement Co. and abiding a U.S. Federal Trade Commission settlement.
Read MoreFederal Trade Commission eyes merger investigation streamlining
The Federal Trade Commission, one of two Washington, D.C., agencies overseeing company mergers, is moving aggressively to implement Presidential directives aimed at eliminating what Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen calls “wasteful, legacy regulations and processes that have outlived their usefulness.”
Read MoreCommission report offers businesses guidance on limits of big data use
The Federal Trade Commission has outlined a number of questions for businesses to consider in their use of big data analytics. “Big data’s role is growing in nearly every area of business, affecting millions of consumers in concrete ways,” says Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. “The potential benefits to consumers are significant, but businesses must ensure that their big data use does not lead to harmful exclusion or discrimination.”
Teachable moments, cautionary tales from FTC Lafarge, Holcim review file
Last month’s merger forming LafargeHolcim Ltd. expedited transfer of more than $1 billion in cement, concrete and aggregate production and distribution assets in the U.S. and Canada. The Federal Trade Commission justified a decision and order on the sale of those properties per Section 7 of the Clayton Act, a century-old law augmenting the Sherman Act of 1890. It prohibits mergers if “in any line of commerce or in any activity affecting commerce in any section of the country, the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly,” FTC notes.