Â鶹´«Ã½

The Commission issued a consent agreement settling charges that the acquisition of OrNda Healthcorp by Tenet Healthcare Corp. would substantially lessen competition for general acute care services in the San Luis Obispo, California area. According to the FTC, Tenet and OrNda were the second and third largest chains of general acute care hospitals in the country, and the two leading providers of acute care hospital services in San Luis Obispo County.  The consent order permits the acquisition but requires divestiture of Tenet's French Hospital Medical Center and related OrNda assets in San Luis Obispo County.

Final consent order preserves competition in the sale of commemorative class rings to graduating high school and college students. The order requires restructuring of the purchase agreement to exclude Gold Lance, Inc. from the proposed plans to acquire Class Rings, Inc. The new acquisition plan is limited to the class ring business of Town & Country Corporation and CJC Holdings, Inc.

Consent order settles charges that the acquisition of Metal Leve S.A. would result in Mahle becoming a monopolist in the research, development, manufacture and sale of articulated pistons used in heavy duty diesel engines and requires divestiture of Metal Leve's U.S. piston business within 10 days of the final consent order.

Consent order settles charges that the proposed acquisition of Solvay, S.A.'s animal health business would reduce competition in the market for the research, development, manufacture and sale of canine lyme vaccine, canine corona virus vaccine, and feline leukemia vaccine. The order requires divestiture of Solvay's U.S. and Canadian rights to the three types of vaccines to the Schering-Plough Corporation or another Commission-approved buyer.

Consent order preserves competition in ready-to-eat cereals. The order permits the acquisition of Ralcorp Holdings, Inc.'s branded ready-to-eat cereal and snack mix business but requires the transfer of licenses to manufacture and sell cereals identical to the Chex brand products without the approval of General Mills.

The final consent order settles charges that American Cyanamid entered into written agreements with its retail dealers to offer substantial rebates to dealers who sold the company's agricultural chemical products at or above specified minimum resale prices. The order prohibits American Cyanamid from conditioning the payment of rebates or other promotionals on the resale prices its dealers charge for its products.

Staff authorized to file a motion for a preliminary injunction to block the proposed acquisition of Office Depot, 1nc. on grounds that the $4 billion acquisition would allow the combined firm to control prices for the sale of office supplies in numerous metropolitan areas in the United States. On June 30, 1997, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the Commission's motion for the injunction. Staples abandoned its acquisition plans in July 1997.

Final consent order settles antitrust concerns in three markets affected by the proposed acquisition of Sandoz Ltd.: research and development in gene therapy products that are being targeted for life-threatening conditions such as hemophilia and cancer; corn herbicides; and flea control products. In the gene therapy market, the order requires the licensing of certain intellectual properties to Rhone-Poulenc Rorer and other firms to permit continued competition in research, development and commercialization for a broad range future medical treatments. In addition, in one of the largest divestitures eve1 required under a consent order, Sandoz agreed to divest its U.S. and Canadian corn herbicide business to BASF Aktiengesellschaft within 10 days. The consent order also requires the divestiture of Sandoz's flea control business to Central Garden and Pet Supply of Lafayette, California within 30 days.