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To: DownSouth who wrote (8993)	5/4/1999 8:56:00 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

DS, I cannot immediately assess your reply, whether it was the defense department or commerce who had the last say. So I'll take it at face value. Thanks. But you have not provided insights or an answer to Roly's original question. If you substitute the names or the two agencies, was my take on the matter accurate?

To: DownSouth who wrote (8993)	5/4/1999 1:12:00 PM
From: RTev	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29970

Since it was mentioned as an example of how mergers are treated by regulators, I pulled up a few old stories about the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger from the Seattle Times, in Boeing's back yard. Boeing had to get two major groups to approve its merger with McDonnell Douglas. In the US, it was the FTC that considered the merger: archives.seattletimes.com The FTC will be the first to rule on whether the colossal merger passes legal muster. Boeing officials remain hopeful despite the strong criticism from Nadar and his consumer allies. ... With the Pentagon signaling implicit approval for the merger of the defense parts of the companies, the primary question has been whether the FTC's antitrust regulators would object to Boeing acquiring the McDonnell Douglas commercial aircraft division. To approve the merger, regulators must determine whether the commercial business, Douglas Aircraft, could continue to be a viable competitor to Boeing in the near or long-term future, or whether another buyer could acquire it and bring it back to strength. [Emphasis added] ... Still, some legal scholars and antitrust attorneys said there was a chance the FTC could negotiate some limited changes - such as divestiture of part of one of the companies - before the merger wins approval. [emphasis added] ... [The FTC's] "Pitofsky is a subscriber to the can-I-help school," said Joe Sims, an attorney who previously served as the No. 2 antitrust official in the Department of Justice. "He asks, 'Is there something I can do to make this better.' He is not a believer in the old-fashioned big-is-bad ideology." As is mentioned in the story above, the most difficult to convince -- and the one that asked for and got the greater concessions from Boeing -- was the European Union's competition commission. Here's a story on the lobbying effort that also shows how a merging company will make concessions to win regulatory approval: archives.seattletimes.com Late last week, at closed-door hearings in Brussels, a European Commission task force heard testimony from supporters and opponents of the merger in an environment already hostile to the U.S. mega-merger. Here's a news analysis of why the Defense Department encouraged the mergers: archives.seattletimes.com