Announced Actions for Janaury 31, 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:

• The FTC has approved the application of Rite Aid Corporation, of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, to divest a drug store in Lincoln, Maine, to Hannaford Bros. Co., of Scarborough, Maine. Rite Aid submitted the divestiture application jointly with R. Stephen Thing, a trustee appointed by the FTC to complete three divestitures, none of which had been completed by the deadline set by the FTC in a 1994 consent order with Rite Aid. The consent order settled charges that Rite Aid’s acquisition of LaVerdiere Enterprises, Inc. could substantially lessen competition in prescription drugs in Lincoln and Bucksport, Maine, and in Berlin, New Hampshire. The divestitures required by the order are intended to restore competition in those markets. (See Dec. 19, 1994 news release for more details regarding the 1994 consent order; Docket No. C-3546; Commission vote to approve the Lincoln divestiture was 5-0.) Staff contact is Betsy Piotrowski, 202-326-2623.

Copies of the documents referenced above are available 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. FTC news releases and other materials also are available on the Internet at the FTC’s World Wide Web site at: http://www.ftc.gov (no final period).