Cleary Gottlieb won a decision from the Regional Administrative Court of Latium, Rome partially rejecting a Italian Antitrust Authority decision that imposed a €10.2 million fine on Calcestruzzi SpA and a €1.65 million fine on Cemencal SpA for allegedly being part of a cartel along with several competitors in the Milan concrete market. The fines were partially annulled.
The Court agreed with Cleary Gottlieb’s arguments that the Antitrust Authority had failed to consider the cartel’s limited market effects, thereby overestimating the appropriate fine, and that the Authority wrongly determined that greater fines were warranted because Calcestruzzi and Cemencal were “persistent offenders” on account of a 1992 violation. These findings are expected to lead to a considerable reduction of the fine imposed on Calcestruzzi and Cemencal.