Markets Wired

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that retail fuel station and convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s acquisition of Holiday Companies would violate federal antitrust law. Under the terms of the acquisition, ACT will acquire from Holiday Companies approximately 380 retail fuel outlets with attached convenience stores in 10 states.

Under the terms of the consent agreement, ACT and its affiliate CrossAmerica Partners LP have agreed to divest 10 fuel stations in Minnesota and Wisconsin to address antitrust concerns. According to the complaint, the acquisition would have increased the risk of both unilateral and coordinated anticompetitive effects in all ten of the markets at issue.

ACT agreed to two other packages of divestitures last year in connection with separate mergers, one in June, and one in November.

The Commission vote approving the final order was 2-0. (FTC File No. 1710184; the staff contact is Nicholas Bush, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2848.)

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