Unusual twist in US antitrust case.
Electrolux AB CEO Keith McLoughlin (pictured), has admitted he gave incorrect information during the trial where the company is fighting to save its planned purchase of General Electric’s appliance business.
In a potential setback for the company, its legal defense is attempting to have the testimony retracted. Last Friday, Electrolux lawyer John Majoras told a US federal judge that Mcloughlin gave incorrect details on product-offering developments by competitors during testimony Thursday. The government has sued to block the US$3.3 billion deal on allegations that it will lead to higher prices for cooking appliances.
According to global media, Mcloughlin had told US District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan that competitive pressures from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics were increasing continuously. He said that they had lifted since the government filed its lawsuit in July to challenge the Electrolux-GE deal. In the last few months, Samsung and LG had started selling cooking ranges for lower price points such as $399 and $499, moving beyond their higher-end appliances to target value consumers, McLoughlin said.
However, it appears that statement wasn’t true. “It was a misstatement,” Electrolux lawyer John Majoras told the judge Friday. Majoras said that after Thursday’s proceedings, McLoughlin went back and reviewed the information on which he had based his testimony, and realized his comments were based on a misrecollection of which companies were selling products at those prices.
“He wants to correct that record, your honor,” Mr. Majoras told the judge.
Judge Sullivan said the situation was unusual and might raise some thorny issues, but added he could “understand why in good faith somebody would go back and say, ‘You know what, I was wrong on that.'”