Legacy costs hit Akzo Nobel in US acrylics lawsuit
28 April 2009 21:44 [Source: ICIS news]
HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Dutch coatings producer Akzo Nobel has agreed to pay $550,000 (€424,000) to settle a US acrylics lawsuit - a legacy cost connected to its acquisition of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
Akzo Nobel was not named in the lawsuit, which alleged that four methyl methacrylate (MMA) and acrylics producers fixed prices in the US.
Under the proposed settlement, Evonik Industries and Lucite would each $7m. Arkema and ICI would each pay $550,000.
ICI was sued because it had once sold acrylics in the US, according to court documents.
Akzo Nobel was involved in the settlement because it bought ICI in 2008, said Heleen Vande Lustgraaf, spokeswoman for Akzo Nobel.
Akzo Nobel had no comments about the allegations in the lawsuit, since it involved events that took place years before the ICI acquisition, Vande Lustgraaf said. In fact, ICI had been out of the acrylics market for nearly a decade by the time Akzo Nobel bought the company.
In 1999, ICI sold its acrylics business to INEOS Acrylics (now Lucite), a company backed by private-equity firm Charterhouse Development Capital.
The settlement ensnared another company that was no longer involved with acrylics, US carbon-fibre producer Cytec Industries. During the period addressed by the lawsuit, Cytec had a 50% stake with Evonik in the companies' MMA joint venture, Cyro Industries.
Cytec sold its stake in Cyro in 2005
Cytec did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
($1 = €0.77)
For more on Akzo Nobel visit ICIS company intelligence
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect
By: Al Greenwood
+1 713 525 2645
For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.
Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.
| ICIS news FREE TRIAL |
| Get access to breaking chemical news as it happens. |
| ICIS Global Petrochemical Index (IPEX) |
| ICIS Global Petrochemical Index (IPEX). Download the free tabular data and a chart of the historical index |
Related Articles
- 05 Oct 09 12:38 Evonik, Cristal Material form glass lenses venture for LEDs
- 28 Sep 09 17:31 US judge approves $15m settlement in MMA price-fixing lawsuit
- 20 Aug 09 17:19 Akzo gets grant from New York state for new machinery
- 20 Mar 09 19:27 US producers nominate quarterly, monthly MMA hikes
- 08 Jun 09 20:28 Solvay to settle US hydrogen peroxide price-fixing suit for $2.1m
- 27 May 09 19:33 US MMA prices squeezed by higher feedstock, weak demand
- 14 May 09 21:04 Initial US MMA acetone settles at 35.5 cents/lb
- 28 Apr 09 19:04 US acetone settlements for MMA producers facing scrutiny
- 27 Apr 09 23:45 Settlement not an admission of MMA price-fixing - Arkema
- 24 Apr 09 22:48 MMA sellers propose $15m settlement in US price-fixing suit
- 30 Mar 09 20:18 NPRA ’09: Lucite to end MAA production at Belle, US, facility
Latest News
- 19 Jun 13 12:50 EU Q1 ethylene oxide exports up by 2% year on year
- 19 Jun 13 12:43 Europe LLDPE imports down in March: Eurostat
- 19 Jun 13 12:42 Europe nylon exports decrease by 23% in March
- 19 Jun 13 12:42 EU March phenol exports up by 56% year on year
- 19 Jun 13 12:36 EU March PET exports down by 19% year on year