FTC says approves Chevron's $18-bil merger with Unocal

FTC says approves Chevron's $18-bil merger with Unocal

Washington (Platts)--10Jun2005


The US Federal Trade Commission Friday approved Chevron's $18-bil acquisition
of Unocal and settled a long-standing dispute over Unocal's controversial
patents for reformulated gasoline. 

The merger and the RFG settlement were approved in separate consent orders,
the FTC said in a statement. Both orders were approved by 4-0 votes, with
Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras recusing herself. Under the terms of the RFG
order, Unocal will stop enforcing certain RFG patents that the commission
alleged could impose anti-competitive-related costs of more than $500-mil on
California consumers. In addition, Unocal will release all relevant patents to
the public by the merger's effective date. "The FTC's investigation of
Chevron's proposed acquisition of Unocal also led to the conclusion that
without the relief imposed by the consent orders, Chevron's ownership of
Unocal's reformulated gasoline patents likely would result in even greater
competitive harm to downstream consumers than would occur if the patents
remained in Unocal's hands," the FTC said.

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