Cabot to pay $10 million to settle class action lawsuit over antitrust

Boston, Massachusetts - Cabot Corp says it will have to pay $10 million to settle the federal class action lawsuits pending against it. The action alleges that Cabot and other carbon black manufacturers had violated antitrust laws in setting prices for carbon black sold in the United States.

Cabot denies any wrongdoing of any kind in these cases, and strongly believes that it has good defenses to these claims. Nonetheless, Cabot agreed to the settlement to avoid further expense, inconvenience, risk and the distraction of burdensome and protracted litigation. The settlement agreement is subject to court approval.

In a Form 8-K filing to the US Stock Exchange Commission, Cabot said it will continue to vigorously defend the remaining antitrust lawsuits pending against it. There are suits pending in several state courts brought by purported classes of indirect purchasers of carbon black, and a single federal case brought by a party that did not join the federal class action.

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SEC form 8-K from Cabot