Avnet Wins $268 Million in Antitrust Trial Verdict

Avnet Wins $268 Million in Antitrust Trial Verdict

The U.S. Federal Court, San Francisco awarded nearly $268 million in damages to electronic components distributor Avnet Inc., in its lawsuit alleging a leading technology manufacturer of artificially inflating prices as part of a global price-fixing conspiracy.

The jury passed a verdict against the defendants-Nippon Chemi-Con Corp and its Illinois-based subsidiary United Chemi-Con Inc came after two days of deliberation at the end of a two-week antitrust Trial.

One of the leading connector and semiconductor wholesalers in the US, Avnet, located in Phoenix, claimed that from 2001 to 2014, it was overcharged for capacitor components, which are commonly employed in electronic devices such as home appliances, cell phones, and personal computers. Capacitors store electrical energy and help regulate current movement.

Capacitor price-fixing charges have been the subject of antitrust litigation that has lasted for almost ten years. Private civil and U.S. government criminal proceedings have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in class-action settlements and other fines.

Avnet chose not to participate in class action settlements involving other direct capacitor buyers.

Scott Wagner, an Attorney at the law firm Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod, representing Avnet said, the jury awarded $89,244,000 in damages, will be multiplied under U.S. antitrust law to $267.7 million. In a pretrial brief, Avnet said it was seeking $274 million.

Attorneys for Avnet said in court filings stated that, “the capacitor’s price-fixing conspiracy is one of the most coordinated, well documented, and long-running conspiracies in recent history.”

Per Contra, the defence lawyers for Nippon Chemi-Con and United Chemi-Con disputed liability. The defendants and others argued that out of Avnet's claimed damages, ‘only $1.5 million’ was tied to capacitor purchases from the defendants.

“The conspiracy Avnet alleges — both in membership and scope — simply did not exist,” the defence lawyers had commented in a filing late last year.

Avnet was represented by Robert Turken and Scott Wagner of Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod.

Nippon Chemi-Con was represented by Joseph Bial of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.