The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved an application by Otto Bock HealthCare North America, Austin, Texas, to divest prosthetic assets to Proteor, headquartered in Dijon, France, with US headquarters in Tempe, Arizona. The FTC required Ottobock’s divesture of the microprocessor prosthetic knee (MPK) products and technology assets after Ottobock’s acquisition of Freedom Innovations, Irvine, California, in 2017.
The divestiture would accomplish the final order’s purposes by ensuring the continued operation of Freedom Innovations’ MPK business within Proteor and by remedying the lessening of competition that was alleged in the complaint.
In November 2019, upholding an administrative law judge’s decision, the FTC unanimously found that the merger between Ottobock and Freedom Innovations was anticompetitive, and it issued the final order requiring Ottobock to divest the Freedom Innovations business, with limited exceptions.
