Tecumseh Products agrees to pay $7M in price-fixing settlement

Pittsfield Township-based Tecumseh Products Co., along with units of Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool Corp., as well as a division of a Danish parts-supplier, agreed Wednesday to a settlement in a price-fixing lawsuit. The settlement will cost Tecumseh approximately $7 million, according to a report in Crain’s Detroit Business.

The lawsuit, which was consolidated before U.S. District Judge Sean Cox in 2009, centers on a secret meeting between executives of the companies as well as Panasonic Corp., and an Italy-based components company. According to Crain’s, the group allegedly met at a hotel in 2004 as part of a conspiracy to inflate the price of compressors.

Crain’s reported the settlement totaled $41 million and must be approved by Judge Cox before it is implemented. Tecumseh’s portion represents 2.7 percent of the company’s sales between February 2005 and December 2008.

Tecumseh Products has had an eventful 2013 thus far. The company’s chairman resigned in January and operations were shifted to a new Pittsfield Township headquarters in February.

The company’s stock (NASDAQ: TECUA) began the year trading at $4.78 per share and rising quickly from mid-January until the end of February has held relatively steady at approximately $8.50 per share since early March.

• Read the full story at Crain’s Detroit Business.

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2