The Justice Department Antitrust Division calls for General Shale Brick and Meridian Brick LLC to divest three plants, 14 showrooms and distribution yards, plus six mines in a proposed settlement of an antitrust lawsuit challenging the producers’ merger. The agency filed the settlement and suit-triggering complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, contending the action is aimed at keeping competition for residential brick in Southern and Midwestern markets.
“Residential brick is an essential building block in American home construction,” says Antitrust Division Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Powers. “As originally proposed, the transaction would have led to higher priced and lower quality residential brick, making it more expensive for millions to build and purchase homes. The settlement preserves competition for the manufacture and sale of residential brick to the benefit of American homebuilders and homebuyers.”