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(Photo= Yonhap news) |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] Dongwon Industries announced on the 14th that it has resolved its legal dispute related to price-fixing by its U.S. subsidiary, StarKist, through a settlement of 2.19 billion dollars (approximately 3,000 billion won).
On the 13th (local time), StarKist agreed to pay the settlement amount of 219 million dollars (about 3,000 billion won). This decision follows involvement in a price-fixing lawsuit related to tuna, filed by U.S. individual consumers and direct-purchase small businesses. The civil lawsuit, which followed a criminal ruling, has now been settled. StarKist had previously paid a 100 million dollar fine for price-fixing allegations from 2011 to 2013.
The settlement is expected to result in a temporary operating loss for StarKist this year and will likely impact the net income on Dongwon Industries' consolidated financial statements, as Dongwon holds a 100% stake in StarKist.
Dongwon Group views the resolution of this price-fixing issue as a clearance of uncertainties and plans to focus on investment and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) going forward.
AlphaBIZ Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
