FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	AT

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1998	                                                                                                            (202) 616-2771

                                                                                                                                                                   TDD (202) 514-1888




KENTUCKY FUNERAL HOME OPERATOR TO PAY $500,000 IN CIVIL PENALTIES





	WASHINGTON, D.C.--  A Kentucky-based owner and operator of
funeral homes and cemeteries and its Canadian parent will pay
$500,000 to settle charges that they violated premerger reporting
requirements, the Justice Department announced today. 

	The Department's Antitrust Division, at the request of the
Federal Trade Commission, today filed a civil suit against Loewen
Group International, Inc. and its parent, the Loewen Group Inc. 
The complaint alleged that Loewen acquired $16 million of the
voting securities of Prime Succession Inc., an Indiana-based
owner and operator of funeral homes and cemeteries, without
complying with antitrust premerger notification requirements.

	The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of 1976 imposes notification and
waiting period requirements on individuals and companies over a
certain size before they can consummate acquisition of stock or
assets over a certain value or ownership percentage.

	The suit and proposed settlement, which must be approved by
the court, were filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

	A description of the case is contained in the attached press
release from the Federal Trade Commission.

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98-151