Visy faces $30m fine as Pratt admits cartel

BILLIONAIRE Richard Pratt has admitted responsibility for the price-fixing cartel his Visy packaging group operated with Amcor, but denies the arrangement was detrimental to customers.

The rivalry regulator yesterday agreed to settle its Federal Court action in opposition to Mr Pratt and Visy, who were alleged to have run a price-fixing ring in the $2 billion cardboard box market from 2000 to 2004.

In a letter sent to customers yesterday, Mr Pratt said he accepted responsibility for “comments made by me to the then-Amcor CEO Russell Jones when he invited me to lunch”.

In its statement of claim, the ACCC alleged Mr Pratt confirmed that he supported the cartel agreement, while lunching with Mr Jones in May 2001 at Melbourne’s All Natio! ns Hotel.

But other than admitting having given his assent to the scam, Mr Pratt sought to lay all further blame with his senior executives.

Visy principal executive Harry Debney and former Visy Board general manager Rod Carroll, who were alleged to have been more closely involved in running the cartel, “have accepted responsibility for many of the matters put against them”, he wrote.

He maintained that Visy was merely pretending to play along with Amcor in order to steal market share from its competitor.

“It is now apparent to us that Visy executives erred when they had discussions with Amcor and sought to out-manoeuvre them as part of Visy’s pursuit of market share gains,” Mr Pratt wrote.

While apologising to “all those concerned by these events”, Mr Pratt denied that Visy had ripped off customers.

“We believe that actual market outcomes demonstrate that our behaviour did not disa! dvantage our customers,” he wrote.

“But if ! any cust omer has concerns we will investigate them,” he wrote, stopping short of offering compensation to customers who may have been overcharged.

The settlement is expected to be presented to the court this week as a statement of agreed facts and recommendations for penalties, which are expected to top $30 million in fines.

The statement will be closely scrutinised for admissions that could be used to advance claims by victims of the cartel.

Law firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman principal Ben Slade said a $300 million class enacting filed against Amcor on behalf of 17,000 businesses would receive a boost from Visy’s settlement.

Amcor has joined Visy as a co-respondent to the action, which is based on Amcor’s admissions to the ACCC, which has granted the meeting of friends immunity from pursuit in return for blowing the whistle on the cartel and co-operating with the regulator.

Cadbury-Schweppes, the only major customer to have launc! hed legal action over the cartel, is also suing Amcor for $120 million it claims Amcor was able to overcharge for cardboard boxes and PET plastic bottles by exploiting its cartel relationship with Visy.

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