Nera Capital Acquires 50,000 Claims in Spanish Car Cartel Collective Action
As LFJ reported last month, Nera Capital has already made headlines with its foray into funding claims brought against the truck cartel. The funder is building on this momentum with an announcement that it has acquired a large number of claims in the Spanish car cartel proceedings.
Reporting by CDR reveals that litigation funder Nera Capital has purchased 50,000 claims in a Spanish collective action being brought against 20 car makers and dealers, with the Dublin-based funder indicating that it planned to acquire another 200,000 claims in this class action. The claims are part of legal action being brought against these car companies over allegations that they took part in a cartel scheme which resulted in a 10 to 15% increase in prices for consumers.
Nera’s chief underwriting officer, Amy Fowler provided the following statement to CDR: “With 9.7 million cars sold during the cartel period, it is imperative that justice is served and the motorists who worked hard to purchase their vehicles are remunerated.” This move to purchase the cartel claims is reportedly part of Nera Capital’s wider strategy to expand into the Spanish market, with the jurisdiction being seen as an attractive proposition due to lower litigation costs and relatively quick legal proceedings.
The action follows a 2015 investigation by the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) into the sharing of commercially sensitive information between these businesses, which resulted in €117 million in fines for their breach of the Competition Protection Act.
The fined companies include: Automóviles Citroën España, Fiat Group Automobiles Spain, B&M Automóviles España, BMW Ibérica, Chevrolet España, Chrysler España, Ford España, General Motors España, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor España, Kia Motor Iberia, Mazda Automóviles España, Mercedes Benz España, Nissan Iberia, Peugeot España, Renault España Comercial, Snap-on Business Solutions, Toyota España, Urban Science España and Volvo Car España.
Porsche Ibérica, SEAT SA, and Volkswagen Audi España, did not receive fines following their pleas for clemency for their role in providing evidence to the CNMC investigation.