Annual Report 1994/95 - Discontinued inquiries: Mergers

Medical laboratory services 92 On November 15, 1994, the Director discontinued an inquiry which had been commenced following receipt of an application by six residents, into the acquisition by a competitor of a company providing medical laboratory services in the Province of Ontario. The applicants alleged that the transaction caused a substantial lessening of competition in the private medical laboratory business in Ottawa and facilitated the removal of capacity in that industry to the Toronto area and that the Director should therefore initiate an inquiry under s.92 of the Act. The Director found that the appropriately defined product and geographic markets were broader than proposed by the complaint and that the acquisition had not raised any concerns under the Act. He concluded that no further inquiry was therefore justified.