Three Steelmakers Raided in Antitrust Investigation

On February 28, 2013, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (“GFCO”) searched the offices of three steelmakers as part of an antitrust investigation into steel supplies to the automotive industry. Specifically, GFCO raided the offices of Voestalpine, ThyssenKrupp, and ArcelorMittal as part of an investigation into potentially illegal pricing agreements between the steelmakers that supply the automotive industry. GFCO confirmed it had searched the premises of these three companies at four locations in the German states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia as well as private residences of some of the suspects of the probe.

Each of the companies made public statements indicating that they are cooperating with the investigation. ThyssenKrupp’s Chairman of the Executive Board Heinrich Hiessinger, quoted on several news outlets, said the company has a “zero tolerance” policy regarding antitrust violations and was further quoted as stating, “We are in the process of implementing a full-scale change in leadership culture at ThyssenKrupp. I take this very seriously. Anyone who doesn’t cooperate has no business working with us.” Similarly, Voestalpine confirmed that the offices of its German subsidiary Voestalpine Deutschland GmbH in Munich had been searched and said on its Web site that it supports the investigation. While ArcelorMittal did not itself confirm that its offices had been searched, an ArcelorMittal spokesperson, quoted on Reuters, indicated that “we are cooperating with the relevant authorities.”

The announcement of the raid comes at a time of ever-increasing global coordination among enforcement agencies and amid ongoing, active antitrust investigations of the automotive supply chain domestically and abroad.

Last year, the GFCO also investigated Voestalpine and ThyssenKrupp for price fixing in the train-track industry. Both companies paid fines following that cartel investigation.

This blog is made available by Foley & Lardner LLP (“Foley” or “the Firm”) for informational purposes only. It is not meant to convey the Firm’s legal position on behalf of any client, nor is it intended to convey specific legal advice. Any opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Foley & Lardner LLP, its partners, or its clients. Accordingly, do not act upon this information without seeking counsel from a licensed attorney. This blog is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Communicating with Foley through this website by email, blog post, or otherwise, does not create an attorney-client relationship for any legal matter. Therefore, any communication or material you transmit to Foley through this blog, whether by email, blog post or any other manner, will not be treated as confidential or proprietary. The information on this blog is published “AS IS” and is not guaranteed to be complete, accurate, and or up-to-date. Foley makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, as to the operation or content of the site. Foley expressly disclaims all other guarantees, warranties, conditions and representations of any kind, either express or implied, whether arising under any statute, law, commercial use or otherwise, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title and non-infringement. In no event shall Foley or any of its partners, officers, employees, agents or affiliates be liable, directly or indirectly, under any theory of law (contract, tort, negligence or otherwise), to you or anyone else, for any claims, losses or damages, direct, indirect special, incidental, punitive or consequential, resulting from or occasioned by the creation, use of or reliance on this site (including information and other content) or any third party websites or the information, resources or material accessed through any such websites. In some jurisdictions, the contents of this blog may be considered Attorney Advertising. If applicable, please note that prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Photographs are for dramatization purposes only and may include models. Likenesses do not necessarily imply current client, partnership or employee status.