UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

 

 

COMMISSIONERS: Edith Ramirez, Chairwoman 

 Julie Brill 

 Maureen K. Ohlhausen 

 Joshua D. Wright 

 

________________________________________________ 

In the Matter of 

 

Ardagh Group S.A, 

a public limited liability company, and Docket No. 9356 

 

Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc., a corporation, and PUBLIC 

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, a corporation. 

________________________________________________ 

ORDER RESCHEDULING HEARING DATE AND STAYING PROCEEDING 

On June 28, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission issued the Administrative Complaint in 

this adjudicative proceeding, alleging that the proposed acquisition by Respondent Ardagh 

Group, S.A. of the shares of Respondent Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc. from a subsidiary of 

Respondent Compagnie de Saint-Gobain would violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act and Section 

5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The complaint alleges that the proposed transaction 

would substantially lessen competition in the U.S. market for the manufacture and sale of glass 

containers to brewers and distillers. The hearing in this matter is scheduled to begin on 

December 19, 2013. 

On December 16, 2013, Complaint Counsel and Counsel for the Respondents (hereinafter 

“the Parties”) filed a Joint Motion to stay this proceeding and move the evidentiary hearing date 

from December 19, 2013 to April 15, 2014. In their Joint Motion, the Parties represent that they 

are engaged in settlement discussions in an effort to reach agreement on a package of glass 

container plant divestitures that could resolve Commission concerns regarding the proposed 

acquisition’s allegedly anticompetitive effects. The Parties indicate that, through a stipulation 

entered in federal district court, Respondent Ardagh has agreed not to consummate the proposed 

acquisition until the earlier of the first business day after the Commission accepts for public 

comment an agreement containing a consent order in this proceeding, or the completion of this 

proceeding, including all appeals. 
The Parties advise that on December 11, 2013 Respondents made a proposal to address the 

allegedly anticompetitive effects of the proposed acquisition, which is being considered by 

Complaint Counsel. The Parties state that rescheduling the evidentiary hearing will permit them 

to devote their full attention to settlement negotiations and also allow them, the Office of 

Administrative Law Judges, and third-party witnesses to avoid the significant expenses of final 

trial preparations and trial. 

Based on the foregoing representations, the Commission has determined, in exercising its 

discretion to oversee this adjudicative proceeding,1 that there is good cause to stay this 

proceeding and reschedule the evidentiary hearing to March 18, 2014, to allow time for 

continued settlement negotiations. Because Respondent Ardagh has agreed not to consummate 

the acquisition at issue until this proceeding is concluded, through either settlement or litigation, 

there is no risk of injury to competition while negotiations continue. Accordingly, 

IT IS ORDERED that the evidentiary hearing in this proceeding be, and it hereby is, 

rescheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. on March 18, 2014, at the Federal Trade Commission offices 

at 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 532, Washington, D.C. 20580; 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Complaint Counsel and Counsel for the Respondents 

shall file a report on the status of the settlement negotiations with the Administrative Law Judge, 

and shall file a copy with the Commission, on or before March 3, 2014; and 

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all proceedings before the Administrative Law Judge 

be, and they hereby are, stayed until 12:01 a.m. on March 3, 2014. 

By the Commission. 

 Donald S. Clark 

 Secretary 

SEAL: 

ISSUED: December 18, 2013

 

1 See Landis v. North Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936).