Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: FTC approves Polypore International’s application to sell Microporous to Seven Mile Capital Partners, (Dec 18, 2013)

Following a public comment period, the FTC has approved an application by Polypore International, Inc. for approval to divest all the stock and related assets of Microporous, which it acquired in 2008, to Seven Mile Capital Partners. The divestiture is required by a Commission final decision and order that found the acquisition anticompetitive and required Polypore to sell Microporous to a buyer approved by the FTC.

In a 2008 complaint, the FTC challenged Polypore’s acquisition of Microporous, charging the merger had resulted in decreased competition and increased prices in four North American markets for battery separators, a component in flooded, lead-acid batteries. Following an administrative trial in 2010, an administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that the deal was anticompetitive, and complete divestiture of the acquired assets was needed to restore competition in the affected markets.

The FTC upheld the ALJ decision, ruling that the acquisition was anticompetitive in three of the four North American markets identified in the complaint. The Commission ordered Polypore to sell Microporous to an approved buyer within six months after the divestiture provisions became final. Polypore appealed the Commission decision, and in 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the FTC’s final decision and order. Polypore appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court which declined to hear the case.

News: Antitrust FederalTradeCommissionNews