The US competition authority FTC filed a lawsuit overnight Thursday to Friday to prevent Henkel from purchasing construction adhesive manufacturer Liquid Nails. The Düsseldorf-based group intends to acquire the company for $725 million (approximately €618 million) from private equity investor American Industrial Partners. However, Henkel already owns Loctite, the leading adhesive brand in the US market. According to the FTC, the merger would unite the by far two largest brands for construction adhesives and eliminate direct competition.
Henkel stated it had taken note of the lawsuit. "We will now examine and analyze it closely," the company said in its statement.
The FTC primarily aims to prevent rising prices in the construction sector. "Affordable, high-quality housing is essential to the American dream, and antitrust laws protect Americans from anticompetitive mergers that threaten to drive up the costs of products used to build and maintain homes," said FTC Director Daniel Guarnera.
(Report by Sabine Wollrab, Tom Käckenhoff. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)
