Associated Press - November 25, 2009 3:15 PM ET
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Nevada state attorney general wants a federal court to block the sale of a Las Vegas-area funeral business to the nation's largest provider of cemetery services.
Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said Wednesday that letting Houston-based Service Corporation International acquire Palm Mortuary Inc. would violate federal and state antitrust law. She says it would give SCI control of 76 percent of the Las Vegas funeral market.
SCI officials didn't immediately respond to messages.
Palm Mortuary is the dominant funeral company in the state's most populous metropolitan area.
SCI currently owns Davis Funeral Home and Memorial Park in Las Vegas, and ranks third in the region.
Masto says SCI should have to shed its current holdings before acquiring Palm Mortuary.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.
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