SAN FRANCISCO, July 12 (Reuters) - South Korea's LG Display
Co Ltd has agreed to pay $380 million to resolve a civil lawsuit
over price fixing in the liquid crystal display market, the
largest amount paid among the ten companies who similarly
settled the litigation, a court filing showed on Thursday.
A class action lawsuit alleged a detailed conspiracy from
the late 1990s through 2006 to fix LCD prices, resulting in
higher costs for buyers of televisions, laptops and other
electronics. Several companies also pleaded guilty to separate
criminal charges and paid fines.
An attorney for the plaintiffs on Wednesday disclosed a
settlement involving LG, AU Optronics Corp and Toshiba Corp.
According to Thursday's court filing, AU Optronics will pay $170
million, while Toshiba will pay $21 million.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco will have
to approve the deal.
AUO representative Freda Lee said the settlement should not
cause material impact to the company's finance or business in
the current or future reporting periods.
Toshiba spokeswoman Deborah Chalmers said the company
"denies any wrongdoing on its part in the LCD business, and it
entered into the settlement to avoid further expense and the
distraction of protracted litigation."
An LG representative could not be reached.
A deal involving the other seven companies, including
Samsung, Sharp and Hitachi, had previously been approved. If the
latest deal becomes final, the total recovery for class members
will top $1 billion, according to the court filing.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of
California is In Re: TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation,
07-md-1827.
For Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs: Daniel Warshaw of Pearson,
Simon, Warshaw & Penny.
For LG Display Co: Hojoon Hwang of Munger Tolles & Olson.
(Reporting by Dan Levine)
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