Hercules Incorporated

Text (OCR of the scan at left; may contain errors)

IN THE MATTER OF HERCULES INCORPORATED MODIFYING ORDER IN REGARD TO ALLEGED VIOLATION OF SEC. 7 OF THE CLAYTON ACT Docket C-1794. Consent Order, Sept. 197 Modifying Order, Nov. , 1982 This order reopens the proceeding and modifies the Commission s order issued on Sept. 23, 1970 (77 F. C. 1242); modified April 8 , 1982 (99 F. C. 404), by deleting Paragraphs II, V and VII from the order. The deletion of these Paragraphs allows the company to acquire stocks, share capital or assets of Columbian Rope Company without prior Commission approval, and repeals provisions requiring the company to notify the Commission of any change in the corporate respondent or furnish compliance reports upon request. ORDER REOPENING PROCEEDING AND MODIFYING ORDER By petition filed June 24, 1982, respondent Hercules Incorporated Hercules ) requests, pursuant to Section 5(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.8.C. 45(b)), that Paragraph II of the Commission s order issued in this matter on September 23, 1970, be modified so that Hercules no longer requires the Commission s prior approval to acquire, directly or indirectly, the whole or any part of the stock share capital or assets of Columbian Rope Company. Hercules also sought to delete the other order provisions binding Hercules Paragraph VII, which requires notice of changes in corporate organization and Paragraph V, which requires compliance reports when requested by the Commission.

Pursuant to Section 2,51 of the Commission s Rules of Practice and Procedure, the petition was placed on the public record for thirty days. No comments were received.

The Commission has determined that order provisions requiring prior Commission approval of future acquisitions generally should not have terms exceeding ten years. In most cases, the Commission believes that such prior approval provisions will have served their remedial and deterrent purposes after ten years and that the findings upon which such provisions are based should not be presumed to continue to exist for a longer period of time. The Commission has reviewed respondent' s petition as well as supplemental information and has concluded that the order has served its law enforcement and remedial goals.

Therefore, upon consideration of the petition and its supporting materials the Commission, in the exercise of its discretion, finds that elimination of Paragraphs II, V, and VII is in the public interest. Modifying Order 100 F. Accordingly, it is ordered that the proceeding be, and it hereby is reopened for the purpose of modifying the order entered therein; It is further ordered That the Paragraphs II, V, and VII shall terminate upon service of this order. . . .

533 Interlocutory Order