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DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Twenty-three states and various companies have reached a $25 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit involving a vitamins price-fixing conspiracy, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said.
Once the settlement is approved by a federal court, businesses in those states that indirectly purchased 15 different vitamins between 1988 and 2000 may make a claim to obtain money from the settlement. Because of the large number of consumers affected, each Attorney General will distribute settlement funds allocated to consumers in their state to government or not-for-profit organizations.
The companies involved include Akzo Nobel NV (AKZOY, AKZA.AE), Bioproducts Inc., Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (MITSY, 8031.TO), Chinook Global Ltd., Degussa AG successor Evonik Degussa GmbH, Lonza Group AG (LONN.VX), Merck KGaA (MKGAY, MRK.XE), EM Industries Inc., Nepera Inc., Sumitomo Chemical Co. (4005.TO), Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. (4508.TO), UCB Pharma Inc. and Vertellus Chemicals SA.
The settlement comes after a $225 million settlement in 2000 involving the same vitamins but different manufacturers, including Roche Holding Ltd. (RHHBY, ROG.VX) of Switzerland and German giant BASF SE (BASFY, BAS.XE).
"Many competing vitamin manufacturers agreed to fix the prices of vitamins they sold, which artificially raised those vitamins' prices," Masto said.
States participating in the settlement are Arizona, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The class-action lawsuit is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com
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Publié le 01 Décembre 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones

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