Bread Makers Gain Approval For Merger

The Justice Department approved the merger of the nation’s largest and third-largest makers of white bread after they agreed Thursday to sell off one brand to a competitor in each of five regional markets.

The maker of Wonder bread, Continental Baking Co., the nation’s largest wholesale baker, is being bought by Interstate Bakeries Corp., the third-largest wholesale baker and producer of such brands as Weber’s, Sunbeam and Butternut.

The companies agreed to the regional divestitures in a settlement with the department’s antitrust division. The government said the arrangement would prevent higher prices for white bread in Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Milwaukee and central Illinois.