Capacitor Antitrust Case Nears End With Deals Worth $165 Million

Matsuo Electric Co. and Nippon Chemi-Con Corp. affiliates stepped closer to ending antitrust litigation over a global price-fixing scheme by capacitor manufacturers, when a federal judge in San Francisco granted preliminary approval to settlements worth $165 million that bring the case’s total damages to roughly $605 million.

Judge James Donato tentatively signed off Thursday on the pacts, which would resolve class action claims brought on behalf of direct purchasers in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. A parallel case on behalf of indirect purchasers like consumers has also settled.

The multidistrict lawsuit, consolidated in 2017, accused ...