Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

The Commission authorized staff to file a motion for a preliminary injunction to block the proposed acquisition of Vivendi Universal S.A.’s Seagram Wine and Spirits Business on grounds that the transaction, would combine the second- and third-largest rum producers in the U.S. eliminating actual competition between the firms, leading to higher prices for rum. The Commission charged that Diageo and Bacardi together would control 95 percent of all U.S. premium rum sales, and that Diageo would have access to highly sensitive business information about Seagram's Gin, Chivas Regal Scotch whisky, The Glenlivet Scotch, and Martell Cognac, products with which Diageo is in significant competition.  If Diageo were to acquire these brands, it would maintain (or have a financial interest in) virtually all popular gin sales, virtually all deluxe Scotch whisky sales, 32 percent of all single malt Scotch whisky sales, and 63 percent of all Cognac sales in the United States.  Those brands, which compete directly with other brands marketed by Diageo in the United States (including Gordon's Gin, Classic Malt Scotch whiskies, Johnnie Walker Black Scotch, and Hennessy Cognac), are Seagram's Gin, Chivas Regal Scotch whisky, The Glenlivet Scotch whisky, and Martell Cognac.  The parties settled the charges and by consent order, Diageo was required to divest the Malibu rum business worldwide to a Commission-approved buyer.  The order also prevented Diageo from obtaining or using any competitively sensitive business information related to Seagram's Gin, Chivas Regal Scotch whisky, The Glenlivet Scotch whisky, or Martell Cognac.

The consent order permits WA's acquisition of FAG Kugelfischer Georg Schufer AG but requires the divestiture of FAG'S cartridge ball screw support bearing business to Aktiebolaget SKF within 20 business days after the consummation of the INAJFAG transaction. According to the complaint issued with the consent order, the acquisition, as planned, would create a monopoly in the worldwide market for cartridge ball screw support bearings, a type of bearing used in the manufacture of machine tool equipment.

Roche agreed to divest, certain assets in the U.S. and Canada to settle antitrust concerns stemming from its proposed acquisition of Corange Limited. The consent order permits the acquisition but requires the divestiture of Cardiac thrombolytic agents (drugs used to treat heart attack victims) and ongoing business assets relating to chemicals used to test for the presence of illegal or abused drugs.

The consent order required the divestiture of Blue Circle Industries PLC's cement business serving the Great Lakes region of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and New York; its cement business in the Syracuse, New York; and its lime business in the southeast United States. These divestitures settled antitrust concerns stemming from Lafarge's proposed merger with Blue Circle. The two firms are market leaders in the industry for cement and lime.

Airgas, Inc., the nation's largest distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases, settled antitrust charges that its January 2000 acquisition of Mallinckrodt, Inc.'s Puritan Bennett Medical Gas Business eliminated competition in the North American market for the production and sale of nitrous oxide. Under terms of the order, Airgas is required to divest two nitrous oxide plants and related assets to Air Liquide America Corporation within 10 days after the Commission issues its final order. Nitrous oxide is a clear, odorless gas used mainly in dental and surgical procedures as an analgesic agent or as a supplement to anesthesia.