The FTC sued to halt PPG’s purchase of Swedlow.

The two companies, however, are preparing to fight the antitrust action and have hired Washington lawyer Carla Hills, who was secretary of housing and urban development under former President Gerald Ford. The Federal Trade Commission claimed in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington that the proposed $42-million acquisition of Garden Grove-based Swedlow by Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries would substantially lessen competition for the manufacture and sale of aircraft windshields and canopies. The suit charges that, by acquiring Swedlow, PPG would boost its share of the market to about 75%.