Companies in a cathode ray tube pricing lawsuit have reached a $528 million settlement

By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Five companies, including Samsung SDI Co Ltd and Koninklijke Philips, have agreed to pay a total of $528 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging price fixing in the cathode ray tube market, court filings show. Consumers who purchased televisions and computer monitors sued various companies in late 2007 and early 2008, alleging an international conspiracy to fix CRT prices. The case was supposed to go to court this year. The lawsuit, published Friday, shows that Samsung agreed to pay $225 million in the settlement and Philips agreed to pay $175 million. Samsung representatives could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday. In a statement, Philips said the settlement “brings an end to a long-pending matter that we previously disclosed.” Panasonic Corp, Hitachi Ltd and Toshiba Corp also agreed to settle the class action lawsuit. The U.S. Department of Justice and other antitrust regulators investigated CRT price fixing, which Samsung agreed to plead guilty to in 2011. U.S. authorities alleged that Samsung SDI executives and other co-conspirators held meetings in Taiwan, Korea South Malaysia, China and other countries to set target pipe prices and share market shares, even if this means closing production lines. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is: Cathode Ray Tube Antitrust Litigation, 07-cv-5944. (Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Chris Reese)