§125. Corporations; transactions lessening competition; exceptions

A. No corporation, engaged in commerce, shall acquire, directly or indirectly, the whole or any part of the shares of another corporation, engaged in the same line of commerce, where the effect of the acquisition:

(1) May be to substantially lessen competition between the corporation whose stock is acquired and the corporation making the acquisition;

(2) May be to restrain commerce in any section or community; or

(3) Tends to create a monopoly in any line of commerce.

B. No corporation shall acquire, directly or indirectly, the whole or any part of the shares of two or more corporations, engaged in the same line of commerce, where the effect of the acquisition, or the use of the shares by voting or granting of proxies, or otherwise:

(1) May be to substantially lessen competition between the corporations, or any of them, whose shares are acquired;

(2) May be to restrain commerce in any section or community; or

(3) Tends to create a monopoly of any line of commerce.

C. Nothing in this Section shall:

(1) Prohibit corporations from purchasing shares solely for investment, and not using them by voting or otherwise to bring about, or in attempting to bring about, the substantial lessening of competition;

(2) Prevent a corporation engaged in commerce from causing the formation, holding, owning, and voting shares of subsidiary corporations for the purpose of carrying on their immediate lawful business, or their natural and legitimate branches or extensions, when the effect of the formation is not to substantially lessen competition;

(3) Prohibit any common carrier from aiding in the construction of branches or short lines so located as to become feeders to the lines of the company aiding in the construction, or from acquiring or owning all or any part of the shares of the branch lines;

(4) Prevent any common carrier from acquiring or owning all or any part of the shares of a branch or short line constructed by an independent company where there is no substantial competition between the company owning the branch line and the company owning the main line acquiring the property or an interest therein; nor

(5) Prevent a common carrier from extending any of its lines through the medium of the acquisition of shares, or otherwise, of any other common carrier where there is no substantial competition between the company extending its lines and the company whose shares, property, or interest are acquired.