Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-based StarKist has come to a settlement with Walmart to resolve the retailer’s lawsuit over StarKist’s involvement in fixing the prices of canned tuna in the U.S. market.
StarKist will pay Walmart USD 20.5 million (EUR 17.9 million) to resolve all antritrust claims brought by the Bentonville, Arkansas, U.S.A.-based retailer, which is the largest retailer of canned tuna in the country. The payout is “based on a combination of cash payment and certain favorable commercial terms, which will further strengthen the business relationship between the two companies,” according to StarKist General Counsel and Senior Vice President Scott Meece.
"StarKist is pleased to resolve this matter with our valued customer, Walmart,” Meece said in a press release. “The resolution is a business-oriented and reasonable one, which sets a benchmark for resolving remaining matters with our other valued customers.”
StarKist, which is owned by South Korean conglomerate Dongwon Industries, pleaded guilty in October 2018 to fixing the prices of canned tuna it sold in the U.S. between 2011 and 2013, a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Bumble Bee Foods previously pleaded guilty to the same felony charge in May 2017, and Chicken of the Sea, which was the whistleblower in the case, has also had to pay out millions to resolve claims by private retailers, including Walmart, over its role in the conspiracy.
In his own statement, StarKist President and CEO Andrew Choe repeated the company's public calls for companies involved in unresolved lawsuits with the company over canned tuna price-fixing to work with the company to reach settlements.
"StarKist is committed to being a socially responsible company and we are pleased to resolve this lawsuit with our largest customer under fair and reasonable terms," Choe said. "We will continue to conduct our business with the utmost transparency and integrity, and we hope to resolve the remaining lawsuits with our other customers under similarly fair and mutually beneficial terms."
