Acquisition of an asphalt producer by another was approved by the state and the Department of Justice after the sale of two asphalt plants and a rock quarry. This sale reduced concerns that Oldcastle, which also owns the asphalt-producing Balf Company, would have a strangle-hold on the asphalt market in north central Connecticut.
Oldcastle and Tilcon are the principal suppliers of asphalt in north central Connecticut and the agreement preserved two major suppliers. As a part of the antitrust review of the proposed merger, the state examined market areas that were relatively small in size because of the high cost of transporting asphalt and the need for asphalt to be put down at temperatures approaching 300 degrees.