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US: FTC files lawsuit challenging Sysco-US Foods merger

By  |  February 19, 2015

The US government filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to block a merger of the nation’s two largest food distributors, US Foods Inc and Sysco Corp, which said it will fight the Federal Trade Commission.

Sysco and US Foods unveiled their $3.5 billion deal in December 2013. It was controversial becausethey are only two companies in their industry able to offer truly nationwide contracts to deliver food and other supplies to customers.

Before Thursday’s announcement, Sysco had hired law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP as its counsel for a fight with the FTC.

“This proposed merger would eliminate significant competition in the marketplace and create a dominant national broadline foodservice distributor,” Debbie Feinstein, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement.

The FTC said in its statement that the divestiture offer was inadequate.

Full Content: The New York Times

 

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