# Granting of Request for Early Termination of the Waiting Period Under the Premerger Notification Rules
Section 7A of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. 18a, as added by Title II of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, requires persons contemplating certain mergers or acquisitions to give the Federal Trade Commission and the Assistant Attorney General advance notice and to wait designated periods before consummation of such plans. Section 7A(b)(2) of the Act permits the agencies, in individual cases, to terminate this waiting period prior to its expiration and requires that notice of this action be published in the *Federal Register* .
The following transactions were granted early termination of the waiting period provided by law and the premerger notification rules. The grants were made by the Federal Trade Commission and the Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. Neither agency intends to take any action with respect to these proposed acquisitions during the applicable waiting period.
| Transaciton No. | Acquiring | Acquired | Entities |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | |
| 20030026 | National Fuel Gas Company | Duke Energy Corporation | Empire State Pipeline Company, Inc. |
| | | | |
| 20030134 | Groupe Danone | Sparkling Spring Water Holdings Limited | Sparking Spring Water Holdings Limited. |
| 20030155 | SHPS, Inc. | eBenX, Inc. | eBenX, Inc. |
| 20030156 | Visa U.S.A. Inc. | Visa International Service Association | Inovant, Inc. |
| 20030169 | BC Gas Inc. | EnCana Corporation | EnCana Pipelines (USA) Inc. |
| 20030178 | O'Charley's Inc. | 99 Boston Inc. | 99 Boston Inc. |
| 20030179 | O'Charley's Inc. | Doe Family II, LLC | Doe Familym II, LLC. |
| | | | |
| 20030141 | The Charles A. Sammons 1987 | Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc | Clarica U.S. Inc. |
| | | | |
| 20030112 | 3M Company | Corning Incorporated | Corning Precision Lens Incorporated. |
| | | | |
| 20030124 | Bertarelli & Cie | Amgen Inc. | Immunex Corporation |
| 20030157 | Behrman Capital III, L.P | Elan Corporation, plc | Athena Diagnostics, Inc. |
| 20030174 | Sherritt International Corporation | Fording Inc | Fording Inc. |
| 20030176 | Highfields Capital Ltd. c/o Goldman Sachs | Stilwell Financial, Inc | Stilwell Financial, Inc. |
| 20030185 | Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber | Philipp Holzmann AG II | J.A. Jones Inc. |
| 20030195 | The Williams Companies, Inc | The Williams Companies, Inc | Gulf Liquids Holdings LLC |
| 20030199 | H.I.G. Capital Partners III, L.P | J.W. Child Equity Partners, L.P | DESA Holdings Corporation |
| | | | |
| 20030163 | Plug Power Inc. | H Power Corp | H Power Corp. |
| 20030165 | Cypress Merchant Banking Partners II | RNC Acquisition Corp | RNC Acquisition Corp. |
| 20030166 | Cypress Merchant Banking Partners II L.P | Republic National Cabinet Corporation | Republic National Cabinet Corporation. |
| 20030167 | HSB Holding plc | Household International, Inc | Household International, Inc. |
| 20030172 | The Coca-Cola Company | Pokka Corporation | Pokka USA, Inc. |
| 20030175 | The Clorox Company | The Procter & Gramble Company | The Procter & Gamble Company |
| 20030192 | Earl E. Payton | Vigilant Holdings LLC | Trend Holdings, Inc. |
| 20030193 | Bank of America Corporation | Vector Capital Management LLC | Vector Partners Limited Partnership. |
| 20030197 | Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe IX, L.P | US Investigations Services, Inc. ESOT | U.S. Investigations Services, Inc. |
| | | | |
| 20030177 | Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company | The Kansas Farm Bureau | The Kansas Farm Bureau. |
| | | | |
| 20030140 | Glaxo SmithKline plc | Theravance, Inc. | Theravance, Inc. |
| 20030198 | Fritz Gerber | ANTISOMA plc | Antisoma Research Ltd. |
| | | | |
| 20030180 | Hormel Foods Corporation | Imperial Sugar Company | Diamond Crystal Brands, Inc. |
| 20030183 | J.P. Morgan Chase & Co | Allianz Aktiengesellschaft | DrKW Finance Inc. |
| 20030186 | HCA Inc. | Health Midwest | Health Midwest. |
| 20030194 | Wolseley plc | JELD-WEN HOLDINGS, Inc | JELD-WEN, Inc. |
| | | | |
| 20030203 | Cadence Design Systems, Inc | Celestry Design Technologies, Inc | Celestry Design Technologies, Inc. |
| | | | |
| 20020934 | Baxter International Inc | Wyeth | Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. |
| 20030173 | Tecumseh Products Company | Invensys plc | Eaton Technologies, Inc. |
| 20030202 | General Electric Company | Osmonics, Inc. | Osmonics, Inc. |
| 20030208 | Quadrangle (GT) Capital Partners LP | GT Merchandising & Licensing Corp | GT Merchandising & Licensing Corp. |
| 20030209 | Quadrangle (GT) Capital Partners LP | Good Times Entertainment Limited | Good Times Entertainment Limited. |
| 20030211 | The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc | Pepsi Cola Buffalo Bottling Corporation | Pepsi Cola Buffalo Bottling Corporation. |
| | | | |
| 20030149 | Herbst Gaming, Inc. | International Game Technology | Anchor Coin, Inc. |
| 20030182 | King Pharmaceuticals, Inc | Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc | Fisons Limited. |
| | | | |
| 20030216 | Deseret Management Corporation | Simmons Media Group, LLC | Simmons Media Group, LLC. |
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Sandra M. Peay or Renee A. Hallman, Contact Representative, Federal Trade Commission, Premerger Notification Office, Bureau of Competition, Room 303, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-3100.
By Direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.