联邦贸易委员会起诉阻止35亿美元兽医用品并购：Covetrus 收购最大对手 MWI 被指推高诊所与宠物主人成本
美国联邦贸易委员会（FTC）11月13日宣布已提起诉讼，要求阻止兽医用品分销商 Covetrus Inc. 及其所有者 Clayton, Dubilier and Rice LLC 与 TPG Inc.，以35亿美元从母公司 Cencora Inc. 手中收购其最接近的竞争对手 MWI Veterinary Supply Inc.。
FTC 在诉状中指称，这笔交易将合并兽医诊所分销与大型企业客户分销两个市场上最大的两家供应商，合并后的公司会推高兽医诊所的成本、降低服务质量，并抬高宠物主人要付的价格。
据 FTC 介绍，Covetrus 与 MWI 向兽医供应诊所使用的药品、疫苗、手套、纱布、注射器等耗材、手术用品与数以千计的其他产品及配套服务，客户从独立的单人兽医诊所到在全美有数百个网点的大型企业客户都有。两家公司都有覆盖全国的分销中心网络，能快速向客户交付产品，并提供较小的竞争对手难以匹敌的折扣与返利。
「兽医与数以百万计的美国宠物主人，都受益于兽医分销商以更低价格与更好服务展开的竞争。」FTC 竞争局局长 Daniel Guarnera 说，「这笔交易将减少一个本已高度集中的市场里的竞争，推高兽医与他们客户的价格。这两家公司正展开激烈的正面竞争，Covetrus 想做的是消灭它最接近的对手，而不是去争取兽医诊所客户。」
FTC 说，两家公司多年来围绕价格与服务条款激烈竞争，在线比价平台 Vetcove 出现后竞争进一步加剧，诉状把双方的竞争形容为一场全面的价格战。诉状同时指称，新竞争者进入市场的结构性障碍很高，专业分销商、生产商与零售商等边缘供应者并不能对两家公司构成有意义的竞争约束。
FTC 表示，合并将使两个市场都高度集中，按现行反垄断判例与 FTC 与司法部的联合并购指南，这笔交易将被推定违法。委员会以2比0的投票授权工作人员寻求永久禁令以阻止这笔收购。联邦法院诉状与永久救济请求已提交纽约南区联邦地区法院，亚利桑那、阿肯色、加利福尼亚、科罗拉多、缅因、密歇根、明尼苏达、内布拉斯加、纽约、北卡罗来纳、俄亥俄、俄勒冈与德克萨斯等州的总检察长共同加入诉讼。
（来源：美国联邦贸易委员会）
FTC Sues to Block $3.5 Billion Veterinary Deal: Covetrus Bid for Rival MWI Said to Raise Costs for Clinics and Pet Owners
The Federal Trade Commission announced on November 13 that it sued to block Covetrus Inc. and its owners, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC and TPG Inc., from acquiring its closest competitor, MWI Veterinary Supply Inc., for $3.5 billion from MWI's parent, Cencora Inc.
In its complaint, the FTC alleges the transaction would merge the two largest suppliers in the markets for veterinary clinic distribution and distribution to large corporate accounts, drive up costs for veterinary clinics, decrease service quality and increase prices for pet owners.
Covetrus and MWI supply veterinarians with pharmaceuticals, vaccines, gloves, gauze, syringes, surgical supplies and thousands of other products and associated services. Their customers range from independent, single-veterinarian practices to large corporate accounts with hundreds of clinic locations across the United States, and both operate national networks of distribution centers, according to the complaint.
"Veterinarians and millions of American pet owners benefit when veterinary distributors compete by offering lower prices and better service. This transaction will reduce competition in an already concentrated market and drive up prices for veterinarians and their customers," said Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition. "These two companies are engaged in fierce head-to-head competition, and Covetrus wants to eliminate its closest competitor rather than compete for veterinary clinic customers."
The FTC said years of head-to-head competition, intensified by the online price-comparison platform Vetcove, has amounted to an all-out price war, and that structural barriers make it difficult for new competitors to enter. The combination would result in highly concentrated markets, rendering the transaction presumptively unlawful under current antitrust case law and the FTC and Justice Department's joint merger guidelines, according to the complaint.
The Commission voted 2-0 to authorize staff to seek a permanent injunction. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and is joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon and Texas.
(Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission)
来源：美国联邦贸易委员会
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于华盛顿的美国联邦贸易委员会总部大楼。Gryffindor 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Federal Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C. By Gryffindor, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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