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(Bloomberg) -- The US Federal Trade Commission volition writer to artifact Tempur Sealy International Inc.’s $4 cardinal projected woody with Mattress Firm Inc.
The bureau connected Tuesday announced that it had unanimously voted to bring a suit to halt the merger, which it said would springiness the combined institution “the quality and inducement to suppress contention and rise prices for mattresses for millions of consumers.”
“Through emails, presentations, and different woody documents, Tempur Sealy has made it abundantly wide that its acquisition of Mattress Firm is intended to kneecap competitors and predominate the market,” said Henry Liu, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, successful a connection posted connected the agency’s website.
The FTC volition inquire a Texas tribunal to enactment the merger connected clasp portion it conducts a proceedings successful its in-house court. Tempur Sealy denied the agency’s claims and said it has been unfastened to making definite changes to code the FTC’s concerns specified arsenic divesting stores.
“We are assured successful the procompetitive rationale for this transaction and look guardant to presenting the galore benefits of the combination,” according to a connection issued by the company.
The woody would harvester Tempur Sealy – the world’s largest mattress shaper with apical brands including Tempur-Pedic, Sealy Posturepedic and Stearns & Foster – with the largest US specialty retailer. Mattress Firm, owned by South African retailer Steinhoff International Holdings NV, operates much than 2,300 stores crossed 49 states.
The suit would people a uncommon situation by the antitrust bureau of a alleged vertical merger – deals betwixt companies that aren’t nonstop competitors but run successful the aforesaid proviso chain.
Antitrust enforcers person go progressively acrophobic astir vertical deals, but person struggled to artifact them successful court. The Justice Department failed successful bids to artifact AT&T Inc.’s acquisition of Time Warner Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s acquisition of Change Healthcare Inc., portion the FTC mislaid a proceedings past twelvemonth implicit Microsoft Corp.’s bargain of Activision Blizzard Inc.
In December, however, a cardinal US appeals tribunal ruled successful favour of the FTC successful a situation to Illumina Inc.’s acquisition of crab detection startup Grail Inc.
PoliticoPro earlier reported the FTC’s volition to writer to artifact the mattress deal.
(Updates with connection from Tempur Sealy.)
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