CSL's takeover in jeopardy in US

MELBOURNE: CSL Ltd's $3.1 billion takeover of Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp may be blocked by the US antitrust regulator, spoiling its bid to become the world's biggest maker of treatments derived from blood plasma.

Federal Trade Commission officials in Washington advised the authority to take legal action in the US District Court to block the deal, Melbourne-based CSL said in a statement yesterday.

CSL won't decide whether to contest the case until the FTC commissioners' decision is known by May 28, CSL said. CSL shares fell after the announcement, which UBS AG said "effectively" ends the deal.