Markets Wired

FTC Approves Trustee’s Request for a 90-Day Extension of Deadline to Sell Tops Supermarket in Bath, New York

The Federal Trade Commission has approved an application by the Divestiture Trustee in the Tops Markets matter, The Food Partners requesting a 90-day extension of the deadline to sell one former Penn Traffic supermarket located at 404 West Morris Street in Bath, New York. The sale is required under an FTC order settling charges that Tops Markets’ January 2010 acquisition of the bankrupt Penn Traffic Company supermarket chain would be anticompetitive.

The Trustee made the request to extend the deadline in connection with the Trustee’s pending application seeking Commission approval to sell the Bath Store to Moran Foods, Inc., d/b/a Save-A-Lot, Ltd. The Trustee’s proposed sale of the Bath Store remains subject to Commission approval. The Commission’s decision extends the deadline for the Trustee to sell the Bath store from December 27, 2011, until March 26, 2012.

The Commission vote approving the deadline extension was 4-0. (FTC File No. 101-0074, Docket No. C-4295; the staff contact is Elizabeth A. Piotrowski, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2623; see press release dated August 4, 2010.)

FTC’s 2011 Report Concludes U.S. Ethanol Market Remains Unconcentrated

The market for fuel ethanol in the United States remains unconcentrated, with 164 firms nationwide either producing ethanol or likely to be in production in the next 12 to 18 months, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s 2011 report on the state of U.S. ethanol production.

The FTC report is the agency’s seventh annual report on ethanol market concentration. In it, staff calculated market concentration for the ethanol production industry using different measures. The staff concluded that as of September 2011, there were four more ethanol producers in the United States than at the time of the FTC’s 2010 report on U.S. ethanol production. The largest ethanol producer’s share of capacity decreased slightly to 11.5 percent of domestic ethanol production capacity – below the 12 percent share in 2010, and remaining below the largest producer’s capacity share between 2005 and 2007, which ranged from 26 percent in 2005 to 16 percent in 2007.

The annual reports are required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The 2011 report is available on the FTC’s website and as a link to this press release. It was submitted to Congress and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as required by the Act. The Commission vote to issue the 2011 report, which was prepared by the staff of the Bureaus of Competition and Economics, was 4-0. (FTC File No. P063000; the staff contact is John H. Seesel, Associate General Counsel for Energy, Office of the General Counsel, 202-326-2702.)

The FTC’s Bureau of Competition works with the Bureau of Economics to investigate alleged anticompetitive business practices and, when appropriate, recommends that the Commission take law enforcement action. To inform the Bureau about particular business practices, call 202-326-3300, send an e-mail to antitrust@ftc.gov, or write to the Office of Policy and Coordination, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission, 601 New Jersey Ave., Room 7117, Washington, DC 20580. To learn more about the Bureau of Competition, read Competition Counts. Like the FTC on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

(FYI 47.2011.wpd)