Europe's highest court Thursday upheld a EUR85.8 million cartel fine levied against German firm Knauf Gips KG for its role in a plasterboard cartel.

The firm had asked the European Court of Justice to annul or reduce the fine levied by the European antitrust regulator, the European Commission, in 2002.

The fine was imposed as part of a case that resulted in a total of EUR478.32 million in fines against four firms for their cartel behavior from 1992 to 1998: Knauf Gips (then known as Gebrüder Knauf Westdeutsche Gipswerke KG), Lafarge SA (EUR249.6 million), British firm BPB PLC (EUR138.6 million) and Gyproc Benelux (EUR4.32 million).

The commission said the companies started the cartel to put a stop to a price war. They met frequently and set up a secret information-exchange system to "monitor market trends and avoid over-aggressive competition," it found.

-By Mike Gordon, Dow Jones Newswires; +352 691 180 766; mgordon.dowjones@gmail.com
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