On Oct. 19, 2026 Attorney General joined the Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan coalition of 12 state attorneys general in a lawsuit to stop the proposed merger of PlayPower, Inc. and BCI Burke Company, LLC; the complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the release said.
The complaint alleges PlayPower and Burke are two of the top five national suppliers of commercial outdoor playground equipment and that the market is already highly concentrated; the release cites industry shares of roughly 85% to 90% held by five main competitors.
The coalition alleges the merger would substantially lessen competition in the market for commercial outdoor playground equipment in violation of Section 7 of the federal Clayton Act; the release says that could lead to higher prices and lower quality.
The release notes prices for commercial outdoor playground equipment have recently risen amid a history of consolidation in the industry; the office said purchases are mostly funded through government and taxpayer dollars, largely by schools and parks and recreation departments, which means the public would bear most of any price increases.
Attorney General Bonta, quoted in the release, said, "We’re not letting this one slide." He added, "Let me be clear: The only kind of monkey business we want to see here is on competitively priced monkey bars."
The lawsuit was joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin; the release says both companies are owned by California-based private equity firms.
State
Rob Bonta
Attorney General · Democrat
Named 3 times in this story.
Portrait: Official portrait
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