Washington, D.C. — In response to news that the Federal Trade Commission voted 5-0 to block mattress manufacturer Tempur Sealy’s $4 billion vertical acquisition of Mattress Firm, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“The Commission’s unanimous 5-0 vote demonstrates broad, bipartisan consensus on the need to tackle vertical mergers to promote competitive markets,” said Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Tempur Sealy is seeking to foreclose access to the largest mattress retail chain in the country, placing an essential product at risk of higher prices, reduced quality, and stunted innovation. This is the latest in a string of recent cases aimed at debunking an efficiencies-first justification for vertical mergers — a welcome development in the enforcement of our nation’s antitrust laws.”

Read “Vertical Merger Scrutiny Needs an Upgrade After Microsoft-Activision,” to learn more about vertical mergers.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.