Markets Wired

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved an application from HeidelbergCement AG and Italcementi S.p.A. to sell the Essroc cement plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia, eight cement terminals in the mid-Atlantic, and related assets to Argos USA LLC, a subsidiary of Cementos Argos S.A.

The divestiture is required by the FTC’s August 2016 final order settling charges that the $4.2 billion merger of Heidelberg and Italcementi would likely harm competition in five regional markets for cement in the United States.

The Commission vote to approve the divestiture was 3-0. (FTC File No. 151 0200, Docket No. C-4579; the staff contact is Roberta Baruch, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2861)

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