The High Court at Auckland has fined a refrigeration manufacturer $3 million following a cartel investigation under the Commerce Act.
Empresa Brasileira de Compressores, known as Embraco, agreed to a settlement in October.
The case involved Embraco and a competitor exchanging information on prices, production capacities and other market intelligence about the supply of certain refrigerator compressors in New Zealand between January 2005 - November 2006.
As a result, the Commerce Commission claimed Embraco and its competitor came to an understanding that each company would seek to increase prices for some compressor units supplied into New Zealand.
