WASHINGTON -- Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a final order settling charges that Pilot Corp.'s takeover of the travel center business of rival Flying J Inc. would have been anticompetitive and would have reduced competition in markets for diesel sold to certain long-haul trucking fleets.
The order settling the FTC's charges required Pilot to sell 26 of its travel center locations to Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc., a smaller national travel center operator, which is currently concentrated in the South. [image-nocss] The final order contains two modifications to the order posted for public comment. The final order requires notice for certain transactions and expands the order's firewall provisions.
The FTC vote approving the final order and letters to members of the public who commented on it was four to one, with commissioner Julie Brill not participating.
Love's Travel Stops is headquartered in Oklahoma City, with more than 260 locations in 38 states.
The new Pilot Flying J is headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., and has more than 550 interstate travel center and travel plaza locations. The company employs more than 20,000 people and is the largest retail operator of travel centers in North America.
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(Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of the Pilot-Flying J deal.)
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