Excerpted from the Los Angeles Business Journal:
At a minimum, the federal government’s intervention in the proposed purchase of LA-based Atlantic Richfield Co. by BP Amoco has further delayed the deal’s closing,and raised the specter of further concessions that will result in the acquisition being less financially attractive than first envisioned. And if the U.S. District Court isn’t sympathetic to BP Amoco’s case, it could cause the British oil giant to reconsider the whole deal, though such a move would be very expensive.
Does the Federal Trade Commission really have a case? Perhaps, but antitrust cases should ultimately come down to bottom-line considerations, and in that regard, it would be tough to prove that the Arco-BP deal would reshape the industry to the point where consumers would notice any difference at the pumps.
And what about other recent blockbuster mergers, most notably in the technology and communications arenas, that could be argued as having similar anti-competitive ramifications? Doesn’t their consolidating control of the marketplace represent an even greater threat?
Of course it does. But it’s politically incorrect these days to take on the likes of America Online, Time Warner and Viacom. The one exception was the massive Microsoft case, but that didn’t involve a merger and covered business practices so egregious that it was hard for Washington to ignore.
That’s hardly the case with BP, which has been anxious to cut a deal with federal regulators. Citing sources close to the oil giant, the Wall Street Journal reported that BP had offered to sell the equivalent of Arco’s entire Alaskan production so that the deal would result in no net gain. The company also was willing to divest a portion of its huge pipeline and oil-storage operations in Cushing, Okla. BP said both overtures were rebuffed.
And why is that? It’s instructive to look toward Capitol Hill, where Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have complained to the FTC about the proposed deal on the grounds that it would affect oil prices. It’s also helpful to remember that California Attorney General Bill Lockyer is determined to prove a massive conspiracy among the major oil companies that has the state’s motorists paying more for gasoline.
Never mind that Lockyer, Boxer and Wyden have little evidence to support their pricing theories. All of which should serve as an important reminder about the hazards of buying up companies,especially within politically exposed industries.
