The Federal Trade Commission recently finalized a consent order settling Tractor Supply Company’s acquisition of rival chain Orscheln Farm and Home LLC.
Following a public comment period, the FTC determined the acquisition would have harmed competition among farm stores in the Midwest and South.
The consent order imposes a number of requirements, including that Tractor Supply divest some Orscheln stores, as well as Orscheln’s corporate offices and Missouri distribution center, to Bomgaars ), an Iowa-based farm store chain, and other stores to Buchheit, another chain with farm stores in Missouri and Illinois.
Tractor Supply Company announced it closed the Orscheln Farm and Home acquisition in October in a deal valued at $320 million.
The consent agreement also requires that for a period of three years, the companies buying the divested farm stores must obtain prior approval from the FTC before selling any of the Orscheln stores they acquired.