Sysco, US Foods Antitrust Hearing Extended

Hearings were continued into this week on the federal court proceedings in the government’s antitrust challenge to the proposed merger of rivals Sysco Corp. and US Foods.

The Federal Trade Commission, which sued to block the deal in February, and the two companies will return to court after Memorial Day to present closing arguments on whether the transaction will harm competition.

Those proceedings are tentatively scheduled for May 28. The judge is considering whether to issue an injunction that would preliminarily block the companies from closing the deal. The FTC has announced plans to hold a longer in-house trial on the merger in July, but the odds of those proceedings taking place appear low. Last week, a US Foods executive testified the company would terminate the Sysco transaction if the judge rules against the companies and issues a preliminary injunction.