SKF has been informed of the initiation of a lawsuit, with a claim for damages, by BMW AG and several group companies (BMW) against bearing manufacturers, including AB SKF, that were part of the settlement decision by the European Commission for violation of European competition rules.
BMW has filed the lawsuit with the High Court of Justice in London, United Kingdom. SKF has not, at this stage, received definitive information about the size of damages claimed.
The amount of damages, if any, should SKF be found liable, is at this stage not possible to determine.
The decision by the European Commission in March 2014 covered violations of European competition rules with respect to sales of bearings to the automotive manufacturing industry in Europe. SKF was one of six bearing manufacturers involved in the investigation.
The settlement decision made no finding that SKF’s top management had involvement in, or knowledge of, the conduct at issue. Furthermore, SKF strongly believes that the activities sanctioned by the European Commission have not caused any damage to its business partners.
