Hitachi Chemical : Settlement with Classes of Indirect Purchaser and Direct Purchaser Plaintiffs in U.S. Civil Litigation in Relation to the Capacitor Business

Dec 12, 2017
Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.

Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Hisashi Maruyama; hereinafter 'Hitachi Chemical') announces that it has settled with classes of indirect purchaser plaintiffs and direct purchaser plaintiffs in relation to the civil lawsuit brought against it in the U.S. on grounds of violation of U.S. antitrust law.

1. Background
Purchasers of capacitors had filed a civil litigation ('Litigation') claiming recovery of damages on grounds of alleged violation of U.S. antitrust law in relation to allegations that Hitachi Chemical and its group companies participated in a cartel concerning capacitors.
Hitachi Chemical has considered various factors such as the effect of prolonged Litigation upon its business, and reached the decision that an early resolution by means of settlement with the classes of indirect purchaser plaintiffs and direct purchaser plaintiffs is the most beneficial strategy. Under the advice of external counsels, etc., it agreed to settle with the classes of indirect purchaser plaintiffs and direct purchaser plaintiffs on July 21, 2017 (U.S. time) and November 30, 2017 (U.S. time) respectively.

2. Outline of settlement
Hitachi Chemical shall pay 14 million U.S. Dollars to the class of indirect purchaser plaintiffs, and 63 million U.S. Dollars to the class of direct purchaser plaintiffs.
This settlement will be subject to subsequent approval procedure by court before it is formally finalized.

3. Impact on business performance
The payment accompanying the foregoing settlement has been recorded as expense, and there will be no new impact on our consolidated business performance forecast for fiscal year ending March 2018 (announced on October 25, 2017).

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