Antitrust Group Blasts $2.6 Billion Merger of RJR, B&W [View All]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - An antitrust lobbying group Wednesday criticized the Federal Trade Commission's decision not to oppose the merger of the nation's No. 2 and 3 cigarette makers - R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Brown & Williamson.

"I remain surprised how this merger can be approved in an industry that is already highly concentrated with really only three players," said Bert Foer, president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Antitrust Institute. He added that the FTC's unanimous approval represented "a disturbing trend."

RJR's $2.6 billion purchase of Brown & Williamson will give the resulting company - to be called Reynolds American - control of about a third of the U.S. cigarette market, putting it behind only Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris USA.

The deal cleared a major regulatory hurdle when it was approved Tuesday by a 4-0 vote by the FTC, which said the merger was not likely to lessen competition in the U.S. cigarette market.

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