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Vitamin probe settlement seen
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May 19, 1999: 10:06 a.m. ET
Price-fixing charges brought by U.S. Justice Dept. could result in big fines
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Pharmaceutical and chemical makers have begun settlement talks with the U.S. Justice Department over allegations of price-fixing in the $3 billion a year vitamin business, according to a published report Wednesday.
A possible settlement in the case, which began more than a year ago, could be reached within days and could involve huge fines, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people close to the investigation.
Market leader Roche (ROHHY) of Switzerland, together with Germany's BASF, France's Rhône-Poulenc (RP) and several smaller U.S. and Japanese firms are alleged to be part of an "international cartel" that secretly met to fix prices on widely used vitamins such as A, B, C and E.
"We've been cooperating with the authorities," Roche spokesman Martin Hirsch told CNNfn Wednesday. He said he couldn't speculate on any possible settlement deal.
Rhône-Poulenc spokesman John Abrams also said Wednesday that his company, which produces animal vitamins, is cooperating with the investigation but he couldn't comment further.
A grand jury in Dallas has been hearing evidence in the federal case since late 1997.
U.S. authorities already have levied fines of $177 million for price-fixing in the feed additive sector. The federal investigation has been joined by a number of private legal actions alleging that a worldwide cartel of vitamin producers "colluded" to fix prices for consumers and livestock farmers.
Company managers allegedly met regularly to plan production, carve up global markets and fix prices, pushing pries up by 15 percent to 40 percent, the Journal reported.
Last month, BASF warned that its 1999 results could be significantly lower because of class-action suits filed in the United States. 
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