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US/UK: Steris and Synergy will contest FTC decision opposing merger

By  |  June 3, 2015

Steris has announced that together with Synergy Health plc, it will contest the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s efforts to block the proposed merger of the two companies. This comes in response to an administrative complaint filed by the FTC. The Commission has claimed that the deal violates antitrust laws, as it may potentially reduce competition in the regional markets for sterilization of products using radiation.

In Oct 2014, US-based Steris had proposed to buy U.K.-based Synergy Health for $1.9 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition aims at combining Steris’ Infection Prevention and Services with Synergy’s Hospital Sterilization Services business.

The deal is in line with other tax inversion mergers announced last year that were targeted to cut down on the tax bills of US companies by shifting their tax base overseas.

Full content: The National Law Review

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