Amcor avoids drawn out court case, settles with Cadbury

Posted by Daniel Palmer on 23rd July 2009

Cadbury has won compensation from packaging heavyweight Amcor for allegedly paying higher prices as a result of Amcor’s four year cartel arrangement with Visy.

Beyond their reputation, it is the first time Amcor has received punishment for the collusion with Visy that cost Visy Chairman Richard Pratt $36 million. However, they have managed to avoid a potentially long court case, with an out-of-court settlement likely to be significantly below the $235.8 million sought by the chocolate maker.

Amcor released a statement last night which, while not divulging the details of the “in principle agreement”, indicated it would not have a “material impact” on their business.

“The proceedings were stood over today for a period of 7 days to permit the parties to finalise the specific terms of their resolution,” the packaging firm said. “A further announcement will be made when those terms are finalised.”

The Cadbury case was likely to set the scene for costly battles, with a win for the confectioner to set a precedent for the thousands of other customers contemplating suing one or both of the packaging firms. Cadbury’s two-and-a-half year battle just to get the case to court and the lack of a guilty verdict against Amcor, however, ensures that the road to further litigation is a cloudy one.

Amcor has still not admitted publicly any wrongdoing with regard to the alleged anti-competitive arrangements with Visy.