SUMMARY OF ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
FOR TUESDAY, FEB. 16, 1993 THROUGH FRIDAY, FEB. 19, 1993
2/16/93 |
Justice
Department Intends to Challenge Proposed Acquisition by Coflexip
S.A. of Wellstream Corporation
The Department of Justice,
Antitrust Division, announced its intention to file a civil antitrust
suit challenging the proposed acquisition by Coflexip S.A., a
French corporation, of the assets of Wellstream Corporation, headquartered
in Panama City, Florida, unless they abandoned the transaction.
Coflexip and Wellstream are the only two significant manufacturers
in the world of unbonded flexible pipe, which is used in offshore
oil and gas production. Worldwide sales of unbonded flexible pipe
last year were approximately $200 million. Coflexip accounted
for about $190 million and Wellstream about $12 million of those
sales. The proposed acquisition would substantially lessen competition
and tend to create a monopoly in violation of Section 7 of the
Clayton Act, and would restrain trade and create a monopoly in
violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. John W. Clark,
Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division,
said, "This combination would likely increase the cost of unbonded
flexible pipe for operators of offshore oil and gas production
facilities in the United States and throughout the world." Unbonded
pipe is used to transport crude oil, natural gas, and other natural
resources from offshore wells to production facilities, or from
those facilities to other sites offshore and onshore. Unbonded
flexible pipe is preferred by operators of offshore oil and gas
production facilities over other types of pipe for dynamic and
certain static applications because of its flexibility and strength.
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Copies of legal filings are
available from the Legal Procedure Unit, Antitrust Division, Room 3233,
Telephone No.: 514-2481.
93-47
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