French chemicals company Arkema was fined 59 million (US$91.6 million) by EU regulators on Wednesday for colluding with rivals to fix the price of bleach used by the paper industry.
The European Commission said it increased the fine on Arkema _ previously owned by French oil giant Total SA _ because this was the fourth time it has been found guilty of forming a cartel.
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said companies would have to learn the hard way if they had repeated violations.
"Arkema's shareholders and management should be asking some pertinent questions as the company's fine has been increased by 90 percent because it had participated in three cartels before this one," she said.
The EU executive said Total was also liable for the fine because it owned Arkema from late 1994 to 2000 when it joined rivals in fixing prices for sodium chlorate, a bleach used by the paper and pulp industry.
EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said it was up to Total and Arkema to decide how to split the bill. Total spun off its chemical businesses as Arkema in 2006.
Companies can appeal fines to the EU courts which can reduce them or, more rarely, strike them down.
Finnish Chemicals Oy was also fined 10.15 million (US$15.76 million)after winning a 50 percent reduction for cooperating with regulators. Finland's Kemira Oyj bought the unit in 2005.
Spain's Aragonesas and former owner Grupo Uralita were also jointly fined 9.9 million (US$15.4 million).
But Dutch-based Akzo Nobel NV won complete immunity for its Swedish subsidiary EKA Chemicals _ evading a possible fine of 116 million (US$180.1 million) _ for blowing the whistle on the illegal price fixing.
The company has previously had to cough up some 100 million (US$142 million) for taking part in other cartels and is cooperating in another investigation on calcium carbide, used in the chemical and steel industries.
For Arkema, the new fine brings to more than 400 million the amount EU regulators have fined it over the years. It received one of the EU's largest ever penalties in 2006, when it was fined 219.3 million (US$281 million) for taking part in an agreement to fix the supply of acrylic glass.
