VNU settles IRI antitrust case for $55m
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ACNielsen's owner VNU has agreed to pay retail sales tracking agency Information Resources (IRI) $55m to settle a decade-long antitrust lawsuit.
The settlement will result in a complete dismissal of all claims in the case, brought by IRI in July 1996 against its main rival ACNielsen, and Dun & Bradstreet and IMS Health – ACNielsen's former owner and sister company, respectively.
IRI had accused the defendants of engaging in anti-competitive practices designed to exclude it from 22 foreign markets, while draining it of the resources needed to compete in the US. The Chicago-based research agency had at one point sought more than $1bn in damages.
The case was set to go to trial in April last year. However, the economic analysis IRI used to support its allegations of unfair pricing was ruled “inadmissible” by a US district court judge in December 2004.
In January, the case was dismissed and IRI launched an appeal to overturn the December ruling. Oral arguments were heard by the Second Circuit of Appeals in October.
Announcing the $55m settlement, VNU chief executive Rob van den Bergh said: “While we believe that the appellate court would have affirmed the dismissal of IRI's meritless case, it was in our company's best interest to resolve this matter and eliminate any further litigation uncertainty and expense.”
He added: “We have always maintained that the competition between ACNielsen and IRI belongs in the marketplace and not in the courtroom.”
Related links:
Date set for IRI's appeal against ACNielsen antitrust ruling
