Grohe, Hansa and Roca among 17 firms punished for price fixing

Sanitaryware manufacturers have been fined millions of euros for price fixing in a 12-year cartel across Northern Europe.

The European Commission fined 17 firms a total of €622m (£510m) for “very serious” infringements of EU competition rules.

The cartel co-ordinated prices in Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

The firms in the cartel were: Artweger, Cisal, Dornbracht, Duravit, Duscholux, Grohe, Hansa, Ideal Standard, Kludi, Mamoli, Masco, RAF, Roca, Sanitec, Teorema, Villeroy & Boch and Zucchetti.

However, five of the companies had their fines reduced to a more affordable level in order not to force them out of business.

One, Masco of Italy, escaped a fine as it was the first to provide information on the cartel

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