The US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denies the Federal Trade Commission’s bid to enjoin a company from acquiring its alleged potential competitor (Steris / Synergy)

On September 24, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) bid to enjoin Steris Corporation (Steris) from acquiring its alleged potential competitor, Synergy Health plc (Synergy). The loss breaks a string of victories in merger challenges the FTC has litigated since 2011. Steris and Synergy are the second and third-largest health care sterilization companies in the world, respectively. In the United States, Steris is one of only two U.S. providers of gamma sterilization services. (Sterigenics International LLC is the other.) Synergy operates more than 36 sterilization facilities outside of the U.S., using both gamma and X-ray sterilization.