Federal pressure has quashed an attempt by two major printing and distribution companies to merge.
Quad/Graphics, a Wisconsin corporation, and LSC Communications, a Delaware corporation headquartered in Chicago, this week abandoned their planned merger due to pressure from U.S. Department of Justice.
The agency’s Antitrust Division filed a suit to block the merger to preserve competition in the magazine, catalog, and book printing market.
The suit alleged that the transaction would combine two of the largest providers in the market and deny publishers and retailers competitive options, which have kept prices low, improved quality and increased printing output, according to the agency.
The case was scheduled for trial in the U.S. District Court in Chicago on Nov. 14, 2019.
“This result is a victory for American consumers and publishers, and a testament to the Division’s resolve to enforce the antitrust laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Had this merger gone forward, it would have harmed competition that benefits publishers, retailers, and, ultimately, consumers through lower prices and greater availability of printed products from popular books to grade school textbooks.”
