PlayPower and BCI Burke, two of the biggest names in commercial playground equipment, have called off their planned merger. The collapse came barely a week after the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of state attorneys general sued to block it. Both companies say they will keep operating on their own.
The companies PR Newswire carried the news Monday, announcing that they had mutually terminated their merger agreement. The companies tied the decision to a lawsuit filed October 19 seeking a permanent injunction to block the acquisition. They had first announced the deal on February 13.
According to Platinum Equity, the transaction was originally expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. That timeline obviously slipped. Platinum Equity also noted that BCI Burke is based in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, while PlayPower is headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina.
What Regulators Said Was at Stake
The Federal Trade Commission alleged that combining two of the largest commercial outdoor playground equipment makers would drive up prices and decrease innovation and quality. The agency said the affected buyers include schools, churches, and parks and recreation departments, among other organizations.
The FTC was joined by 12 state attorneys general, and Global Competition Review reports they argued the deal would eliminate intense head-to-head competition for playgrounds purchased by schools, states and local governments. The coalition's state-level announcement, per the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, said the transaction would substantially lessen competition in violation of Section 7 of the federal Clayton Act.
Illinois Weighs In on Market Concentration
Illinois was among the states that sued, and CBS News Chicago reports that Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office said the market is already tight. Raoul's office said PlayPower, Burke and three other companies own more than a dozen playground equipment brands and control up to 90% of the U.S. playground equipment market. It also said competition between PlayPower and Burke benefits customers through lower prices and better services.
The Illinois attorney general's news release, as relayed by the station, identified concerns about significantly higher prices for schools and park districts in Illinois and across the country. Raoul said his office's antitrust bureau helped stop the merger and that he would continue to oppose similar illegal mergers. The case was filed in the Northern District of California, and the station notes the attorneys general moved to have the lawsuit dismissed after the merger was called off.
The Companies Push Back
The companies see it very differently. PlayPower CEO Bryan Yeazel said, “We are confident we would have prevailed in court on the merits,” according to the companies' announcement. They also disputed the regulators' characterization of the market, saying the two firms together would have held less than 30% of the market share in an industry they described as highly fragmented and increasingly affected by global competition.
Those two market pictures, less than 30% versus up to 90% for five companies, are not reconciled in the available reporting, and the differing definitions behind them are not spelled out. Nor is the deal's price settled: MLex put the transaction at $550 million, while Platinum Equity's February announcement said financial terms were not disclosed.
For now, Plastics News frames the outcome simply: the companies scrapped the merger rather than fight the FTC in court. PlayPower and BCI Burke say they will continue to operate independently, which means schools and park districts will keep shopping between two separate rivals.
