WASHINGTON (CN) - The Justice Department went to court Thursday to block the proposed $1.8 billion merger of Germany-based Continental AG and Veyance Technologies, makers of truck and auto airsprings.
If Hanover-based Continental is allowed to buy Veyance from Carlyle Partners, "the merger would combine two of the three leading suppliers of air springs used in commercial vehicles in North America," the United States said in its antitrust complaint.
The new company would control about 50 percent of the U.S. market, which the Justice Department expects "would result in higher prices and decreased
quality of service for customers, and would increase the likelihood that the two remaining suppliers would substantially reduce competition through successful coordination."
It asked that the merger be blocked as a violation of the Clayton Act.
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