Flakeboard America Limited, Inversiones Angelini y Compañía Limitada, and SierraPine have agreed to pay a total of $5 million to settle with the government for violating the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act of 1976 and Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
The companies will pay a combined $3.8 million in civil penalties for their HSR Act violations, with Flakeboard America Limited required to disgorge $1.15 million in illegally obtained profits. Additionally, Flakeboard America Limited and SierraPine must establish antitrust compliance programs and agree to certain restrictions.
The settlement resolves the government’s allegations that Flakeboard America Limited, Inversiones Angelini y Compañía Limitada, and SierraPine engaged in illegal premerger coordination while Flakeboard America Limited’s proposed acquisition of three SierraPine mills was under antitrust review. The proposed acquisition was abandoned on September 30, 2014, after the government expressed concerns about the transaction’s likely anticompetitive effects in the production of medium-density fiberboard (MDF).
According to the government, Flakeboard America Limited, Inversiones Angelini y Compañía Limitada, and SierraPine closed SierraPine’s particleboard mill in Springfield, Oregon, and moved the mill’s customers to Flakeboard America Limited. This unlawful coordination led to the permanent shutdown of the Springfield mill on March 13, 2014, and enabled Flakeboard America Limited to secure a significant number of Springfield’s customers for its Albany mill.
The HSR Act requires companies planning acquisitions or mergers that meet certain thresholds to file premerger notification documents with the government and the Federal Trade Commission. The HSR Act also requires that the merging parties observe a mandatory waiting period before proceeding with the transaction.
Flakeboard America Limited, Inversiones Angelini y Compañía Limitada, and SierraPine are subject to a maximum civil penalty of $16,000 per day for each day they violate the HSR Act.
The settlement was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and is subject to court approval.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Antitrust & White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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