US Justice Dept Clears Cameron-Natco Deal, With Conditions

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday cleared Cameron International Corp.'s (CAM) $980 million acquisition of Natco Group Inc. (NTG), but required the company to sell certain desalting assets used in the oil-refining industry.

The department's antitrust regulators said the asset sales were necessary to preserve competition in the market for refinery desalters, which are used to remove salt from crude oil at the oil-refining stage of production.

The department said Cameron and Natco are each other's closest competitor for a significant set of refinery customers in the United States.

Under terms of its settlement with the government, Cameron will divest desalter assets it acquired from Howe Baker Engineers Ltd. in 2005. It will also divest a non-exclusive license to certain Natco technologies related to refinery desalters, the Justice Department said.

Cameron said in a statement that the assets it is selling represent less than two-hundredths of 1% of the company's 2008 revenue.

Cameron said it plans to close the deal "as soon as practicable" following approval by Natco's shareholders at a special meeting to be held on Nov. 18.

-By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9222; brent.kendall@dowjones.com

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