U.S. Appeals Court Blocks Heinz's Bid To Buy Beech-Nut --- Merger Would Have Created Duopoly in Babyfood Market

H.J. Heinz Co. abandoned its plan to buy Beech-Nut after a U.S. federal appeals court panel blocked the merger of the U.S.'s second- and third-largest baby-food makers. Three companies dominate the U.S. baby-food market, with Gerber, a Michigan unit of Switzerland's Novartis AG, holding a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Wall Street journal Asia
Main Author By Mark Wigfield and John R. Wilke
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Victoria, Hong Kong Dow Jones & Company Inc 01.05.2001
Subjects
Acquisitions & mergers
Antitrust
State court decisions
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:H.J. Heinz Co. abandoned its plan to buy Beech-Nut after a U.S. federal appeals court panel blocked the merger of the U.S.'s second- and third-largest baby-food makers. Three companies dominate the U.S. baby-food market, with Gerber, a Michigan unit of Switzerland's Novartis AG, holding a 65% share of the market, while Heinz and Beech-Nut, a unit of Milnot Holding Co. of St. Louis, split most of the balance. Last year, the two smaller players convinced a federal district court the merger would create a more efficient challenger to Gerber. David Balto, who was the FTC's co-counsel on the case, said the ruling could strengthen the U.S. government's hand in other pending deals, such as UAL Corp.'s United Airlines' pending buyout of U.S. Airways Group.
ISSN:0377-9920