[ad_1]
StarKist agreed to plead guilty on the face of a plea of fair dealing in the United States, the Justice Department said.
The company faces a fine of up to $ 100 million for forcing shoppers to pay the price of at least November 2011 through December 2013, the Justice Department said.
The amount is to be determined by the United States District Court in San Francisco, which must also be approved by the StarKist's plea agreement. StarKist, an American subsidiary of Dongwon Industries of South Korea, has also agreed to cooperate with the federal investigation, which began in 2015.
"The conspiracy to fix prices on these household staples has been felt by American consumers," said Makan Delrahim, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's antitrust division. "We will continue to hold accountable companies and consumers who are accountable."
Andrew Choe, StarKist's Chief Executive, said in a statement that the company had "cooperated with the D.O.J. during the course of its investigation "and would" accept responsibility. "
"Mr. Choe said, adding that the company had already begun to carry out parts of the plea agreement.
The conspiracy came to light in 2015, when Thai Frozen Union Products in Bangkok made an unsuccessful bid to buy Bumble Bee Foods, a San Diego company that was then struggling financially. Thai Union had already swallowed up Chicken of the Sea, and expected that the merger with Bumble Bee would propel it past the StarKist to become the market leader in the United States.
But before the merger could happen, a food wholesaler in New York, Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative, filed a lawsuit in California. T Ol Ol Ol Ol Ol,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Olean said that he had already created an "oligopolistic structure," which would be turned into a "virtual duopoly" if the planned merger went ahead.
It also has a number of opportunities in the form of joint ventures with the National Fisheries Institute's Tuna Council from 2011 to 2012.
Other lawsuits followed, by grocers, restaurants, suppliers and retailers including Walmart, Target and Kroger.
In July 2015, Thai Union Frozen Products has been subpoenaed by the Justice Department. The planned merger was called off.
Last year, Bumble Bee Foods pleaded guilty to the same felony price-fixing charges as StarKist did on Thursday, and paid a $ 25 million fine. That was not the case, but they said they did not want to ask for a Bumble Bee out of business.
Source link
