The Federal Trade Commission recently finalized a consent order settling Tractor Supply Company’s acquisition of rival chain Orscheln (ORR-shlin) 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 )BOM-gars), an Iowa-based farm store chain, and other stores to Buchheit (buck-eyet), 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.
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