Article 1
ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd, Brugg Rohrsysteme GmbH, Dansk Rørindustri A/S, Henss/Isoplus Group, Ke-Kelit Kunststoffwerk Ges mbH, Oy KWH Tech AB, Løgstør Rør A/S, Pan-Isovit GmbH, Sigma Tecnologie Di Rivstimento S. r. l. and Tarco Energie A/S have infringed Article 85(1) of the Treaty by participating, in the manner and to the extent set out in the reasoning, in a complex of agreements and concerted practices in the pre-insulated pipes sector which originated in about November/December 1990 among the four Danish producers, was subsequently extended to other national markets and brought in Pan-Isovit and Henss/Isoplus, and by late 1994 consisted of a comprehensive cartel covering the whole of the common market. The duration of the infringements was as follows: - in the case of ABB, Dansk Rør, Løgstør, Pan-Isovit and Tarco from about November/December 1990 to at least March or April 1996, - in the case of Henss/Isoplus, from about October 1991 up to the same time, - in the case of Brugg from about August 1994 up to the same time, - in the case of Ke-Kelit from about January 1995 up to the same time, - in the case of KWH from at least March 1995 up to the same time, - in the case of Sigma from about April 1995 up to the same time. The principal characteristics of the infringement consisted in: - dividing national markets and eventually the whole European market amongst themselves on the basis of quotas, - allocating national markets to particular producers and arranging the withdrawal of other producers, - agreeing prices for the product and for individual projects, - allocating individual projects to designated producers and manipulating the bidding procedure for those projects in order to ensure that the assigned producer was awarded the contract in question, - in order to protect the cartel from competition from the only substantial non-member, Powerpipe AB, agreeing and taking concerted measures to hinder its commercial activity, damage its business or drive it out of the market altogether.