Officials: Settlement Lets SCI Buy Vegas Mortuary

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Officials say the nation's largest funeral service company resolved antitrust issues with the Nevada state attorney general, and can proceed with a plan to buy a large Las Vegas-area mortuary business.

A deputy Nevada state attorney general and a spokeswoman for Houston-based Service Corp. International said Wednesday that a proposed settlement will let SCI buy Palm Mortuary Inc.

The settlement awaits approval by a U.S. District Court judge in Las Vegas. It was submitted Tuesday with a lawsuit seeking to block the Palm Mortuary purchase on state and federal antitrust grounds.

The agreement requires SCI to sell another local company it owns, Davis Funeral Home and Memorial Park.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said she was concerned that otherwise, SCI would have 76 percent of the Las Vegas funeral market.