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Valspar Corporation has petitioned the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission to set aside a provision in an order requiring the company, until 2003, to obtain the FTC's approval prior to acquiring assets used in manufacturing coating resins in the United States. Valspar makes the request pursuant to the Commission's prior-approval policy, under which the Commission adopted a rebuttable presumption that the public interest requires setting aside prior-approval provisions in outstanding merger orders. The petition will be subject to public comment for 30 days, until Aug. 10.

Valspar is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The 1993 order which imposes the 10-year prior-approval requirement settled charges that Valspar's acquisition of the Resin Products Division of Cargill, Inc. would violate federal antitrust laws by, among other things, eliminating competition between two leading U.S. producers of coating resins. The order also required Valspar to spin off McWhorter, Inc., the subsidiary through which it made the acquisition. (McWhorter was spun off to become McWhorter Technologies, Inc., and the latter also has petitioned the FTC to set aside the prior-approval requirement as the requirement applies to it. That petition is subject to public comment until Aug. 1.)

Comments on the petition should be addressed to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

Copies of the petition, as well as other documents associated with this case, are available from the FTC's Public Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-326-2222; TTY for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. To find out the latest FTC news as it is announced, call the FTC's NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710. FTC news releases and other materials also are available on the Internet at the FTC's World Wide Web Site at: http://www.ftc.gov

(FTC Docket No. C-3478)

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