FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. BUTTERWORTH HEALTH CORPORATION, a Michigan corporation, and BLODGETT MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER, a Michigan corporation, Defendants., 946 F. Supp. 1285

Summary

Hospitals contended that the FTC was not entitled to a preliminary injunction because the merger would enable them to avoid substantial capital expenditures and achieve significant operating efficiencies. The court agreed and held that: 1) the FTC established a prima facie case under § 7 because it adequately established both the relevant product market and geographic market, and it showed that the merger would result in a significant increase in the concentration of power in the relevant markets; but, 2) hospitals rebutted not only the FTC's prima facie case, but also the FTC's additional evidence of anticompetitive effect because high concentration in the hospital industry could not be presumed to result in anticompetitive effects, the hospitals were nonprofit and thus the merger was not likely to result in price increases, hospitals had demonstrated their commitment to the community, and most importantly, the proposed merger would result in significant efficiencies that would ...