Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: FTC will not challenge denial of injunction in Steris, Synergy deal, (Oct 2, 2015)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

The FTC issued a one-sentence statement yesterday, disclosing that it will not appeal an order denying preliminary injunction in the Commission’s challenge to the proposed merger between Steris Corp. and Synergy Health PLC—the second and third largest sterilization companies in the world. The federal district court in Cleveland denied the FTC’s preliminary injunction request late last month (FTC v. Steris Corp., File No. 151 0032, Dkt. 1:15-cv-01080-DAP).

In May 2015, the FTC issued an administrative complaint, charging that Steris’ proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of Synergy would violate the antitrust laws by significantly reducing future competition in regional markets for sterilization of products using radiation, particularly gamma or x-ray radiation. The district court denied the FTC’s request for preliminary injunction, however, finding that the Commission failed to meet its burden to demonstrate that, absent the acquisition, Synergy would have entered the U.S. contract sterilization market by building one or more x-ray facilities within a reasonable time period.

The text of the statement can be found here.

Companies: Steris Crop.; Synergy Health PLC

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