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US: Funeral merger review lives on another month

By  |  July 18, 2013

A second-request has been issued by the Federal Trade Commission regarding a planned merger between funeral services companies Service Corporation International and Stewart Enterprises Inc. SCI confirmed it has been asked to provide additional information regarding the transaction, effectively extending the waiting period of review by another 30 days after the FTC receives the additional information. Despite the second request, the companies said they expect the deal to complete by early-2014. The buyout would see a $1.4 billion purchase of Stewart. According to reports, competitors claim that past buyouts made by SCI resulted in higher consumer prices; further, rival company Funeral Consumers Alliance argues that the current buyout would lead to SCI to control 40 percent of the market in major cities throughout the US.

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