The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it will require Danfoss A/S and Eaton Corporation Plc to divest assets from the companies' orbital motor and hydraulic steering unit manufacturing businesses before their merger can proceed.
Without the divestitures, DOJ said the combination of the two firms would "substantially lessen competition in the design, manufacture, and sale of orbital motors and hydraulic steering units used in agricultural, industrial and construction equipment."
Danfoss and Eaton are the two largest makers of orbital motors used for mobile off-road equipment like skid steers, harvesting equipment, sprayers and street sweepers.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, the parties must divest three Danfoss orbital motor and hydraulic steering unit facilities located in Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Parchim, Germany; and Wroclaw, Poland, and two orbital motor production lines and one hydraulic steering unit production line from Eaton facilities located in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and Eden Prairie, Minnesota, to Interpump Group or an alternate firm approved by the U.S.