France’s competition authority handed the country’s top yogurt makers more than $200 million in fines Thursday, for fixing prices over the course of several years. The decision announced Thursday targets 11 companies — including Yoplait and Lactalis. The cartel was uncovered thanks to a special procedure that allows companies to report their own price-fixing activity to regulators in exchange for reduced punishment. Yoplait was the first company to report the activity, and was given no fines. Lactalis says it will appeal the decision, arguing in a statement the fines ‘overestimate in an obvious way the gravity of what happened, and their impact on the economy.’ The ruling found that the companies agreed on how and when to raise prices from 2006 to 2012, and divided up volumes, seriously disturbing the market.
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