WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Seafood canner Connors Bros. has agreed to divest its sardine snack business before it acquires competitor Bumble Bee, the U.S. Justice Department said.
The department said Tuesday that without the divestiture of the Port Clyde sardine business, the recent combination of Connors and Bumble Bee would have caused higher prices for U.S. consumers of mainstream canned sardine snack products.
The department filed a civil suit Tuesday in Washington to challenge the combination. At the same time, the department's Antitrust Division filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the competitive concerns and the suit.
The U.S. complaint said Connors and Bumble Bee were the only two significant sellers of mainstream sardine snacks and competed against each other throughout the country until the acquisition.
Canada-based Connors and San Diego-based Bumble Bee owned the four dominant sardine snack brands -- Connors' Brunswick, Beach Cliff and Port Clyde brands and Bumble Bee's own brand.
