FTC Moves Unanimously to Block $4 Billion Mattress Giants Merger

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CNN
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The Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously to block mattress maker Tempur Sealy’s purchase of Mattress Firm on Tuesday.

In May, Tempur Sealy, the world’s largest mattress supplier and manufacturer, agreed to buy the largest U.S. furniture retailer in a deal worth about $4 billion.

Federal Trade Commission Authorized to file a lawsuit in federal court To prevent takeover.

The proposed deal would stifle competition, raise prices for mattress buyers and give the companies “tremendous power” in the mattress supply chain, the FTC said. The documents showed that competing mattress suppliers would lose access to its most important retail channels, the FTC said. Those suppliers employ thousands of American workers, it added.

“Through emails, presentations, and other transaction documents, Tempur-Sealy made clear that its acquisition of Mattress Firm was intended to force competition into submission and dominate the market,” Henry Liu, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a press release. “This deal is not intended to create efficiencies; it is intended to cripple competition, which will raise the price of a critical commodity and potentially lead to layoffs from good-paying American manufacturing jobs in nearly a dozen states.”

The deal was set to give the combined company 3,000 stores and 71 manufacturing facilities, and was expected to close in the second half of 2024.

Analysts viewed the deal as a win-win, as mattress and furniture sales have slowed after surging during the pandemic, when consumers spent heavily on home furnishings. Mattress Firm was already dealing with its own financial troubles, including a 2018 bankruptcy filing. The retailer has struggled with overexpansion and online competitors, including Casper and Amazon.

CNN has reached out to Mattress Firm and Tempur Sealy for comment.

This is breaking news and will be updated.

CNN’s Jordan Valinsky contributed to this report.