U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit Friday upheld a Federal Trade Commission order requiring Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. to break up its 2001 $84 million acquisition of Pitt-Des Moines Inc. After the merger, CBI was the sole U.S. provider of engineering and construction for a range of field-erected gas storage tanks. The Circuit Court's ruling ends litigation in the case against CB&I, the FTC said.
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In a 2005 administrative opinion, the commission held that the acquisition, consummated despite an agency warning, violated antitrust law. To restore competition, it ordered CB&I to create two separate, standalone divisions capable of competing in the relevant markets, and to divest one of those divisions within six months. CB&I then petitioned the 5th Circuit to review the commission's decision, leading to the decision announced Friday.
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