The Commission has approved an application for proposed divestiture from Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. and Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (collectively CB&I). The application was filed in connection with the matter entitled In the Matter of Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. et al., and addresses the Commission’s divestiture order of December 2004 (as modified in August 2005), requiring CB&I to create two separate, stand-alone divisions capable of competing in four relevant markets, and to divest one of those divisions to restore competition as it existed prior to CB&I’s 2001 acquisition of certain assets of Pitt-Des Moines, Inc. (PDM).
On January 25, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the Commission’s decision and order finding that CB&I’s acquisition of PDM’s assets was anticompetitive and in violation of the U.S. antitrust laws. Specifically, the Commission found that the consummated merger significantly reduced competition in four separate markets involving the design and construction of various types of field-erected specialty and industrial storage tanks in the United States: 1) liquefied natural gas storage tanks; 2) liquefied petroleum gas storage tanks; 3) liquid atmospheric gas storage tanks; and 4) thermal vacuum chambers.
In its application, which can be found on the FTC’s Web site and as a link to this press release, CB&I requested Commission approval to divest certain tank business operations and assign certain contracts to Matrix Service Company. The Commission approves the proposed sale of the divestiture assets to accomplish the objectives of the Commission’s order. The Commission has also extended the term of the Monitor Trustee for six months, with the possibility of reinstating his services as needed in the following 18 months.
The Commission vote approving the divestiture and the extension of the term of the Monitor Trustee was 4-0. (FTC Docket No. 9300; the staff contact is Elizabeth A. Piotrowski, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2623; see press release dated January 25, 2008, which can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/01/cbi.shtm.)
Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.
(FYI 59.2008.wpd)