Olin Corporation v. Federal Trade Commission

Olin Corporation (“Olin” or “Company”) petitions for review of an order of the Federal Trade Commission (“Commission”) to divest assets acquired from the FMC Corporation (“FMC") and used to produce swimming pool sanitizing chemicals. The Commission ruled that Olin’s acquisition of these assets would likely result in a substantial lessening of competition in the relevant markets in violation of section seven of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 18 , and section five of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”), 15 U.S.C. § 45 . We deny the petition for review.

I.

This case concerns competition among manufacturers of swimming pool sanitizing agents, which are used to kill algae and bacteria. We focus on three such sanitizers; two are chemicals sold in dry form, and the third is liquid pool bleach (sodium hypochlorite). The case is mostly about the two dry sanitizers, “ISOS” (short for “isocyanurates,” of which there are two varieties: “dichlor” and “trichlor”) and, secondly, “CAL/HYPO” (short for calcium hypochlorite). A fourth chemical is also involved: “CA” (short for cyanuric acid). CA is a precursor in the manufacturing process of ISOS, and accounts for roughly 50% of the cost…