Energizer, Walmart Lose Bid to Toss Battery Price-Fixing Suits

Energizer Holdings Inc. and Walmart Inc. must confront three antitrust suits brought by consumers and retailers over claims the companies colluded to inflate retail prices of batteries.

Judge Casey Pitts of the US District Court for the Northern District of California last week denied the retailers’ motion to dismiss, saying the plaintiffs plausibly inferred an unlawful agreement existed between the two companies and that the defendants have power in the “nationwide market for disposable battery products.”

The retailers and consumers showed Energizer and Walmart had the power to set retail and wholesale prices for Energizer products, Pitts said. “This is ...