Georgia-Pacific Gets OK to Buy Fort James

Georgia-Pacific Group, the No. 2 U.S. forest products company, won regulatory approval for its $11.2-billion purchase of Fort James Corp. after it agreed to sell plants that make tissue for commercial customers. The Justice Department said the companies agreed to settle a lawsuit that challenged the merger because it would hurt competition in bulk sales of paper towels, napkins and bathroom tissue. The proposed consent decree must be approved by a federal judge. Fort James is the biggest U.S. maker of commercial tissue. Together, the companies control 66% of the market for commercial-tissue products, the Justice Department said. Shares of Deerfield, Ill.-based Fort James, whose brands include Quilted Northern and Brawny, rose $1.31 to close at $35.31, while Georgia-Pacific closed off 13 cents at $23.81, both on the NYSE.