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ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION
On 2 April 2014, the European Commission concluded the
investigations started in January 2009 by adopting a decision
under which it found that, between 18 February 1999 and 28
January 2009, the world's largest cable producers, including
Prysmian Cavi e Sistemi S.r.l. adopted anti-competitive
practices in the European market for high voltage submarine
and underground power cables.
The European Commission held Prysmian Cavi e Sistemi
S.r.l. jointly liable with Pirelli & C. S.p.A. for the alleged
infringement in the period from 18 February 1999 to 28 July
2005, sentencing them to pay a fine of Euro 67.3 million,
and it held Prysmian Cavi e Sistemi S.r.l. jointly liable with
Prysmian S.p.A. and the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for the
alleged infringement in the period from 29 July 2005 to 28
January 2009, sentencing them to pay a fine of Euro 37.3
million. Prysmian has appealed against this decision to the
General Court of the European Union and has submitted an
application to intervene in the appeals respectively lodged by
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. and the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. against
the same decision. Both Pirelli & C. S.p.A. and the Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. have in turn submitted applications to
intervene in the appeal brought by Prysmian against the
European Commission's decision. Prysmian has not incurred
any financial outlay as a result of this decision having
elected, pending the outcome of the appeals, to provide
bank guarantees as security against payment of 50% of the
fine imposed by the European Commission (amounting to
approximately Euro 52 million) for the alleged infringement
in both periods. As far as Prysmian is aware, Pirelli & C.
S.p.A. has provided or is nonetheless preparing to provide
the European Commission with a bank guarantee for 50% of
the value of the fine imposed for the alleged infringement in
the period 18 February 1999 - 28 July 2005. Pirelli & C. S.p.A.
has also filed a civil action against Prysmian Cavi e Sistemi
S.r.l. in which it demands to be held harmless for all claims
made by the European Commission in implementation of its
decision and for any expenses related to such implementa-
tion. Prysmian Cavi e Sistemi S.r.l. started legal proceedings
in February 2015, requesting that the claims brought by Pirelli
& C. S.p.A. be rejected in full and that it should be Pirelli & C.
S.p.A. which holds harmless Prysmian Cavi e Sistemi S.r.l.,
with reference to the alleged infringement in the period
18 February 1999 - 28 July 2005, for all claims made by the
European Commission in implementation of its decision and
for any expenses related to such implementation. Following
a detailed and careful analysis of the European Commission's
ruling, and nonetheless considering this has been appealed
and so could be submitted to second-instance judgement,
as well as the fact that the investigations initiated by the
Canadian Antitrust Authority have ended without any
sanctions for Prysmian, it has been decided to release part of
the existing provision.
Prysmian has also learned from several sources, including
in the public domain, that some British operators have filed
actions in the High Court in London against certain cable
manufacturers, including the Prysmian Group, to obtain
compensation for damages allegedly suffered as a result of
the alleged anti-competitive practices condemned by the
European Commission in the decision adopted in April 2014.
The above events have led to the recognition in the 2014
income statement of a net release of Euro 31 million, classi-
fied as non-recurring items.
A detailed analysis can be found in Note 14. Provisions for
risks and charges within the Explanatory Notes.
The Trade & Installers business saw Prysmian's fire safety
cables at the centre of a large number of projects. These
included the
MOSE
flood barrier in Venice (Italy), and two
projects in the United Kingdom: the new
Leeds Arena
and
the intriguing
Sky Garden
skyscraper in London.
Lastly, the
Telecom
operating segment has seen the
execution of many interesting projects and the renewal of
ongoing partnerships with all the industry's major global
players, as well as intense technological innovation, leading
to the introduction of several new products. The FTTH
Council Europe Conference, the world's largest event for
Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH), held in Stockholm in February,
was the occasion for the Group to present its
Flextube®
technology in response to ever increasing needs for cable
miniaturisation; September's ECOC Conference in Cannes
(France) saw Prysmian present its innovative
WideCap-OM4
multimode fibre whose ability to operate at particularly
long wavelengths responds to ever growing demand by data
centres.