Unilegion files €450 million fully-funded Italian cardboard cartel claim

Unilegion has filed a collective action in Milan seeking more than €450 million, including interest, for almost 300 Italian companies that allegedly overpaid for corrugated cardboard packaging because of a long-running cartel.

The action, which is fully funded by an unnamed “well-know institutional funder”, was filed in the Court of Milan and brings together businesses from sectors including food, wine, agriculture, fashion and mechanical engineering. The claim follows a July 2019 decision by Italy’s competition authority finding that two interconnected cartels operated in the markets for corrugated cardboard sheets and packaging from at least 2005 to 2017.

The Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato imposed fines exceeding €287 million on the companies involved, with its decision subsequently upheld by Italy’s administrative courts. Unilegion said the alleged conduct inflated packaging prices across the Italian economy for more than a decade.

“Cartel damages claims are often too complex, costly and risky for individual companies to pursue on their own,” Michael Gramkow, managing director of the claimant entity, said. Combining the claims in a funded collective action provides the scale and resources needed to pursue compensation, he said.

Trevisan & Cuonzo is acting for the claimant entity, with a team led by Vittorio Cerulli Irelli and Virginia Bellucci. Nicolò Manzini of RPLT – RP Legal & Tax is also advising. Charles River Associates, led by Patrick Andreoli-Versbach and Valter Sorana, conducted the economic analysis.

Hamburg-based Unilegion organizes collective competition claims for businesses affected by cartel conduct. It said it currently asserts more than €850 million in claims on behalf of over 4,000 European companies.