Kensington Antitrust Advisors Group

Update June 2009: The parties have abandoned the deal.

In In the Matter of: CSL Limited and Cerberus-Plasma Holdings LLC, the FTC has officially moved to block blood plasma-derived therapeutics company SCL Ltd.’s proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of rival Talecris Biotherapeutics, alleging that this deal would have an anti-competitive effect through 1) consolidating the market for protein therapies; 2) increasing the likelihood of collusion; 3) tightening supply relative to demand; and 4) driving up prices.  This latest move by the FTC follows the FTC’s earlier concerns about this acquisition’s possible anti-competitive effects, when it asked CSL to provide more informaiton about the deal under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.