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