French anti-trust authority fines French steel distributors
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Duisburg (euro adhoc) - Duisburg, December 16, 2008 - The French anti-trust authority (DGCCRF) announced today that it has imposed fines totaling almost EUR600 million on KDI SAS (a subsidiary of Klöckner & Co SE), members of the Arcelor group, Descours et Cabaud, Morel and other steel distributors in France. The companies were accused of taking part in anti-competitive price-fixings from 1999 to 2004.
The company and its legal advisers maintain that the fine of EUR169 million imposed on KDI SAS is unjustifiably high. Contrary to its previous practice, the French anti-trust authority obviously used global sales of Klöckner & Co as the basis for the fine´s calculation, even though the violations were committed exclusively by the French subsidiary, KDI SAS, and only affected the French market. For this reason, KDI SAS will appeal the fine with the aim of significantly reducing the amount and of obtaining a suspension of payment until a final judgment has been rendered.
The fine will negatively impact the 2008 group results of Klöckner & Co SE by a total of EUR79 million. Reserves had been made in the amount of EUR20 million. In addition, today´s Klöckner & Co SE (the former acquisition vehicle of private equity investors Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer) possesses a compensation claim totaling EUR70 million towards the previous owners of the Klöckner & Co group resulting from the sale of the group in 2005.
About Klöckner & Co: Klöckner & Co is the largest producer-independent distributor of steel and metal products in the European and North American markets combined. The core business of the Klöckner & Co Group is the storage and distribution of steel and non-ferrous metals. About 210,000 active customers are supplied through more than 260 distribution locations in 15 countries in Europe and North America. During the financial year 2007, the Company achieved sales of approximately EUR6.3 billion with more than 10,000 employees. The shares of Klöckner & Co SE are admitted to trading on the official market segment (Amtlicher Markt) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) with simultaneous admission to the sub-segment (Prime Standard) to the official market with further post-admission obligations. ISIN: DE000KC01000; WKN: KC0100; Common Code: 025808576. Klöckner & Co shares are listed in the MDax® Index of Deutsche Börse.
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Further inquiry note:
Peter Ringsleben - Corporate Communications
Phone: +49-203-307-2800
E-mail: peter.ringsleben@kloeckner.de
Claudia Uhlendorf - Corporate Communications
Phone: +49-203-307-2289
E-mail: claudia.uhlendorf@kloeckner.de
Dr. Thilo Theilen - Investor Relations
Phone: +49-203-307-2050
E-Mail: thilo.theilen@kloeckner.de
Branche: Metal Goods & Engineering
ISIN: DE000KC01000
WKN: KC0100
Index: MDAX, CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin / free trade
Börse Hamburg / free trade
Börse Stuttgart / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Börse München / free trade
Original content of: Klöckner & Co SE, transmitted by news aktuell