After months of delay, Honeywell International’s $600 million purchase of Everett-based Intermec has won approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on the condition that it license patents for barcode scanners.
Honeywell agreed to license patents related to two-dimensional scanners to Bologna, Italy-based Datalogic under a settlement with the FTC that resolves claims that the deal, as originally proposed, would have been anticompetitive, the agency said Friday in a statement. Last year, before Intermec and Honeywell announced their deal, Datalogic was rumored to be considering a bid for Intermec.
“Licensing requirements can preserve competition in markets where access to needed technology is the main barrier to entry,” said Deborah Feinstein, director of the FTC’s bureau of competition. “The proposed order gives Datalogic access to the patents it needs to enter the U.S. market immediately and restore the competition lost due to the merger.”
Honeywell, the Morris Township, N.J.-based maker of airplane navigation systems, thermostats and other controls, announced in December the agreement to buy Intermec, a provider of radio-frequency-identification systems and other inventory-tracking products.
Intermec shareholders approved the deal in March, and the acquisition had been expected to close by the end of the second quarter. But FTC scrutiny delayed that. In a news release, Intermec said it now expects the acquisition to be consumated by Tuesday.
Intermec, with its headquarters at 6001 36th Ave. W. north of Paine Field, employs about 2,300 people and operates more than 65 offices around the world.
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