FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 1996                            (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

       JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROTECTS COMPETITION IN MERGER
          INVOLVING HOUSTON OIL WELL EQUIPMENT MAKERS
                                
     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice today said
that it would allow two Houston-based oil well equipment makers-
-Cooper Cameron Corp. and Ingram Cactus Co.--to go forward with
their $98 million merger deal following the agreement by Cooper
Cameron to license and supply certain oil well equipment and
technology to a third company, Daniel Valve Co., to alleviate
anticompetitive concerns.

      The Department's action was in response to concerns that
Cooper Cameron's acquisition of Ingram Cactus would lessen
competition in the U.S. market for geothermal wellheads and
valves.  Wellheads are used to cap new oil wells, and are used to
regulate the pressure of oil, natural gas, or geothermal steam as
it emerges from the well. 

     The Department's Antitrust Division said that the license
and supply agreement will eliminate the transaction's potential
harm to competition in this market.  The Department said that
without this fix, the merger would have combined the largest and
second largest suppliers of geothermal wellheads and valves and
would have lessened competition to customers in the United
States, causing higher prices or lower levels of quality and
service.

     Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Antitrust Division, said, "This transaction as originally
structured would have significantly reduced competition by
combining the only two major competitors in the manufacture and
sale of geothermal wellheads and valves."

     The license and supply agreement between Cooper Cameron and
Daniel Valve Company will preserve competition in this industry
which will benefit purchasers and users of this equipment,
Bingaman added.

     Bingaman cited this case as another example of the
Department's willingness to work with parties to remedy
competitive problems that arise in the context of larger merger
deals so that those transactions can proceed once the competitive
problems are resolved.  

     "Here the parties' willingness to 'fix-it-first' ensures
that the transaction's potentially anticompetitive features have
been satisfactorily eliminated before it is allowed to proceed,
protecting consumers from possible economic harm," Bingaman
added.

     Cooper Cameron Corporation and Ingram Cactus Company compete
world-wide as well as in the United States in the markets for
wellhead equipment and valves for use in the oil, gas, and
geothermal drilling industries.  In 1995, total sales for Cooper
Cameron was $1.1 billion and total sales for Ingram Cactus was
$73 million.  In 1995, the two companies accounted for a
substantial percentage of sales of geothermal wellheads and
valves in the United States. 

     To remedy the Department's competitive concern, Cooper
Cameron entered into an exclusive agreement to license its
technology, including its know-how and trade secrets, used in
connection with the design, manufacture, and sale of geothermal
wellheads and valves, to Daniel Valve Company, a subsidiary of
Daniel Industries Inc., also headquartered in Houston.  Daniel
Industries is a major manufacturer of fluid measurement and fluid
control products and systems.  In 1995, Daniel Valve had sales of
more than $168 million.  

     In addition, Cooper Cameron will provide Daniel with
technical assistance for one year, and will supply Daniel with
the same components covered by the license for a period of three
years at its distributors' prices.  

     Together, the license and supply agreement resolved the
Department's competitive concerns by providing Daniel with the
assets, information, and products to become a long-term, viable
competitor in this industry. 
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96-275