By Brent Kendall And Ted Mann 

Justice Department antitrust enforcers on Wednesday filed a lawsuit seeking to block Electrolux AB's proposed $3.3 billion acquisition of General Electric Co.'s appliance business, saying the deal would suppress competition and hurt consumers.

The lawsuit is the latest signal that as companies ride the current wave of mergers and acquisitions, U.S. antitrust officials are standing by to challenge transactions they believe go too far in consolidating industry sectors.

Wednesday's lawsuit on the Electrolux deal also is the latest antitrust headache for GE, which is seeking to shed certain subsidiaries that aren't core to its business and looking to buy others.

The company is facing separate headwinds in Europe over a proposed deal in which it is seeking to buy Alstom SA's power turbine and grid business. European competition enforcers have raised concerns about that deal, and the head of GE's power business is expected to meet with officials in Brussels face-to-face Thursday in an attempt to address those concerns.

GE and Electrolux announced their proposed tie up in September 2014.

The Justice Department filed a 15-page legal complaint challenging it in a Washington, D.C., federal court, saying the acquisition would likely lead to "less competition, higher prices and fewer options for millions of Americans who buy major cooking appliances each year."

The department also alleged the deal would create a duopoly between Electrolux and Whirlpool in the supply channel of kitchen appliances to home builders, property managers and other contract purchasers. Few appliance suppliers can meet the demands of these customers, the department said, adding that any increase in appliance prices could be passed along to home buyers or renters.

The companies pledged to battle the government vigorously.

Electrolux said the acquisition will increase competition and give consumers greater product choices at a wider range of competitive prices. "We believe this acquisition accelerates consumer innovation, which improves the industry as a whole, and results in more consumer choice than ever," Keith McLoughlin, president and chief executive of Electrolux, said in a statement.

Washington antitrust lawyer Joe Sims, representing Electrolux, said the companies and the Justice Department have engaged in settlement discussions, but those talks haven't been successful so far. The companies remained open to reaching an accord, he said.

Mr. Sims said the department's lawsuit was inconsistent with the department's decision under the Bush administration in 2006 to approve Whirlpool's acquisition of Maytag. The market has gotten more competitive in the decade since, thanks to the rise of appliance models from other suppliers like Samsung and LG, he said.

GE said in a statement that it "continues to believe that GE Appliances' customers, consumers and employees will benefit from Electrolux's commitment to the appliance business and its ability to compete with global competitors."

On GE's Alstom deal, European Commission regulators have raised concerns about the transaction, saying it would reduce from three to two the number of major players selling heavy-duty gas turbines in Europe.

GE has said it is willing to accept some concessions to make the Alstom deal work, including possibly selling off some intellectual property it receives from Alstom. But Chief Executive Jeff Immelt has drawn the line at giving up any of the service revenue GE hopes to rake in from Alstom's existing installed base of turbines, the large machines at the heart of gas- and coal-fired power plants.

The regulatory maneuvering comes against the backdrop of a boom in mergers and acquisitions. Global deal activity totaled $2.19 trillion in the first half of 2015, a figure that puts the year on track to challenge the 2007 deal-making record. And the first day of the third quarter kicked off with another big deal, the largest on record in the life and property-casualty insurance industries, with ACE Ltd. agreeing to buy Chubb Corp. for $28.3 billion.

Government antitrust scrutiny has been the downfall of several deals in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission last month won a court ruling against the merger of rival food distributors Sysco Corp. and US Foods, which abandoned their deal on Monday.

Comcast Corp. walked away from its planned acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc. in April, in the face of opposition from the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission. Applied Materials Inc. abandoned its deal to acquire Tokyo Electron Ltd. after the department objected.

Write to Brent Kendall at brent.kendall@wsj.com and Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com

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