Rubber and Plastic News Digital Edition

Parker sets up fund to pay victims in hose case

By Miles Moore

Rubber & Plastics News Staff

WASHINGTON—The ongoing litigation in an alleged rubber marine hose price-fixing scandal has taken an unexpected twist in what attorneys call the first private resolution of a company’s global cartel liability without arbitration.

Parker ITR, one of the ongoing defendants in the price-fixing case, has set up an escrow fund with Citibank in London to reimburse non-U.S. marine hose customers for what they overpaid, according to Hausfeld L.L.P., a global claimants’ law firm with its main offices in Washington.

Anthony Maton, one of Hausfeld’s London partners, said the Parker ITR settlement represents a huge leap forward for the settlement of private cartel claims and will be the model for the settlement of many global disputes in the future.

According to Hausfeld, Parker has paid an amount representing 16 percent of the proceeds from non-U.S. marine hose sales between 2002 and 2007.

The company had other ownership before 2002, so

Parker is not responsible for marine hose sales before that year.

Parker earlier this year was fined $33.4 million by the European Commission in connection with the marine hose case but said it is considering appealing that fine. A Parker spokesman didn’t comment on the escrow fund agreement.

Marine hose customers may file claims for their share of the fund, in exchange for agreeing not to sue Parker ITR or its parents or affiliates. Marine hose, which generally is used to convey petroleum between tankers and storage facilities, is used by oil refiners, the military and a host of other industrial and government entities.

A number of oil companies and other major marine hose purchasers have signed on, but a Hausfeld spokesman declined to name them, citing a confidentiality clause in the agreement.

According to Hausfeld and the U.S. Department of Justice, a cartel to fix prices, rig bids and allocate market share in the worldwide marine hose market began in the mid-1980s and continued until May 2007, when

Justice Department investigators broke it up.

Besides Parker, the main conspirator companies have been identified in court documents and press releases as Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd., Trelleborg Indus-trie S.A., Bridgestone Corp., Manuli Rubber Industries S.p.A. and Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd.

So far a total of nine executives from these companies have pleaded guilty to conspiracy in U.S. courts, with one awaiting trial and two others acquitted of all charges in trial.

To settle a U.S. class action suit filed by marine hose customers there, all of the defendant companies except Manuli plan to participate in a pending settlement agreement worth more than $21 million. A federal judge in Florida has yet to rule on the proposed agreement, the Hausfeld spokesman said.

Manuli also has made no proposals to settle non-U.S. rubber marine hose claims. When asked if he expected Manuli to negotiate a deal like Parker’s, Michael Hausfeld, Hausfeld L.L.P.’s founder and senior partner, said, “It depends on how reasonable and sensible they wish to be.”

Bridgestone’s Handlos to keynote green conference

AKRON—Robert W. Handlos, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations L.L.C.’s vice president of product development, will serve as the keynote speaker at the first Going Green In Rubber Conference June 9-10.

The program, presented by Rubber & Plastics News and Delta Energy, will take place at the Holiday Inn in the Cleveland suburb of Independence, Ohio.

Handlos will discuss how operating a company in an environmentally friendly manner—while meaning different things to differ-

ent firms—is more than just making green products. He will review where the rubber industry is today and what companies could be doing individually and collectively related to “green” operations to sustain their businesses.

The executive will touch on product design, process and systems improvements that lead to reducing energy consumption, increasing yields where possible and addressing product end-of-life issues.

Handlos has 30 years experience in the tire and rubber industry, 25 with Bridgestone.

The Going Green in Rubber Conference is directed toward executive level managers at rubber component manufacturing companies, as well as suppliers and original equipment manufacturers.

The conference program will provide information on how each segment of the rubber product industry can address environmental issues as a key element in their future plans while still growing sales and profitability.