Tempur Sealy's $4 billion purchase of Mattress Firm challenged by FTC
CBSN
Tempur Sealy's proposed $4 billion acquisition of Mattress Firm is getting challenged by the Federal Trade Commission, the antitrust agency announced on Tuesday.
The FTC unanimously voted to go to federal court to stop the country's biggest mattress maker from merging with the largest bedding retailer, saying the combined company would have "the ability and incentive to suppress competition and raise prices for mattresses for millions of consumers."
Tempur Sealy has shown it plans to curtail competitors' access to Mattress Firm's nationwide network of stores, significantly impairing their ability to compete, the FTC said. Those predominantly American manufacturers employ thousands and would likely have to close factories and lay off workers if the deal announced were to go through, the FTC stated.
A case of H5 influenza, also known as bird flu or avian influenza, has been confirmed in a man who was working at a dairy farm in northeastern Colorado. That's according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, which said it is the fourth confirmed human case in the United States since an outbreak among cows that appears to have started in March.