Bong, four others fined 19.5 mln euros for envelope cartel
11/12/2014 10:45
BRUSSELS, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Swedish envelope maker Bong
BOLJ.ST and four of its peers were fined a total of 19.5
million euros ($24.2 million) by European Union antitrust
regulators on Thursday for taking part in a cartel over a
five-year period.
The European Commission handed down a 3.1 million-euro fine
to Bong. Sanctions for French company Hamelin and Germany's
Mayer-Kuvert were about 5 million euros each while that for
Spain's Tompla came to 4.7 million euros.
Another French company, GPV, was penalised 1.65 million
euros. All the firms admitted wrongdoing in return for a 10
percent cut in their fines.
The EU competition authority said the envelope makers fixed
prices and exchanged commercially sensitive information between
2003 and 2008.
GPV was liquidated after the cartel ended, with some of its
assets, including those involved in the cartel, subsequently
acquired by Mayer-Kuvert.
($1 = 0.8046 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
((foo.yunchee@thomsonreuters.com; +32 2 287 6844; Reuters
Messaging: foo.yunchee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: EU CARTEL/ENVELOPES