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Antitrust Settlement Reached With Parker Hannifin

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A law firm that represents plaintiffs in antitrust cases said Friday that it has reached a global legal settlement with a unit of Parker Hannifin Corp. (PH) in connection with an international investigation into a price-fixing cartel for rubber hose used in oil exploration.

Attorney Michael Hausfeld of Hausfeld LLP said the settlement will allow those who purchased the hose from the Parker unit, including major oil companies, to recoup some of they money they paid for the product.

Hausfeld said Parker ITR, an Italian subsidiary of Parker Hannifin that manufactures the hose, has agreed to refund 16% of the amount that purchasers spent on the hose from 2002 to 2007. The settlement doesn't cover U.S. purchases, which are covered by another settlement, he said.

Hausfeld didn't place an exact dollar amount on the potential value of the settlement but said it could be in the tens of millions of dollars.

A Parker ITR executive pleaded guilty in U.S. court in Houston last summer to participating in a price-fixing conspiracy that is being investigated by the Justice Department and competition authorities in other countries. The European Commission fined Parker Hannifin $32.9 million in January in connection with its own antitrust investigation of Parker ITR and other companies.

Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin couldn't immediately be reached for comment. When the European Commission fine was announced, Parker Hannifin said the problems uncovered at its subsidiary began before the company purchased the unit in 2002 and were hidden from Parker.

The company said the Parker ITR unit had $15 million in revenue when it was acquired.

U.S. prosecutors have charged executives at five companies with participating in a price-fixing conspiracy for the rubber hose.

Hausfeld said the Parker ITR settlement was the first-ever private settlement of a company's global liability in connection to a price-fixing cartel.
 

More information on this case: Marine Hose

Practice Areas: Antitrust / Competition