EU officials raid Pilkington in glass cartel investigation

Shares in glass companies fell yesterday after the European Commission revealed its anti-trust officials had raided offices and seized papers from companies including the giant UK manufacturer Pilkington.

Brussels said the raids were part of an operation to smash a cartel allegedly involved in fixing prices for glass used by the building and automotive industries.

Officials are understood to have raided the offices of four companies operating in Europe that control almost two-thirds of the world's glass industry.

"The Commission has reason to believe that the manufacturers concerned may have co-ordinated price increases and agreed on the introduction of an 'energy surcharge' in the area of flat glass," it said.

It added that it had evidence that car glass producers might have agreed on supply quotas and prices.

The dawn raids took place on Tuesday and Wednesday at makers of flat and car glass in Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden.

Pilkington confirmed that "a number" of its sites across Europe had been raided and said it was co-operating with the inspectors.

It has 30 sites in the UK, predominantly involved in making or distributing glass, but is understood that officers only visited its corporate headquarters in St Helens, Merseyside.

The news triggered a fall in its shares, which dropped as much as 5.5p, or 4.6 per cent, before closing down 3.5 per cent.

Other firms raided include Saint-Gobain, the French producer whose shares closed down 2 per cent, and Glaverbel, a Belgian unit of Asahi Glass Co, Japan's biggest glass maker. Guardian Europe, the other major European player, was unavailable for comment on whether it had also been visited.

The four companies produce 62 per cent of the world's high-quality float glass although only Pilkington, Saint-Gobain and Asahi have a presence in the automotive sector. The glass industry is worth €14bn (£9.7bn) a year.

The Commission stressed that the raids were not an indication of guilt, adding that there was no strict deadline for completing a cartel inquiry.

If the commission finds the companies guilty of price fixing, it could fine them up to 10 per cent of turnover, although recent practice shows it tends to impose a fine of between 2 and 3 per cent of sales.

Its biggest fine was a €497m (£350m) penalty against Microsoft last year for stifling competition for server software, although it could legally have ordered a $3bn (£1.6bn) penalty.