News Corp (NWS) Settles With Valassis (VCI) For $500 Million For Unfair Competition
January 31, 2010 4:21 PM
News Corp (NYSE: NWS), the world's second-largest media conglomerate, announced a settlement with Valassis Communications Inc (NYSE: VCI), a distributor of newspaper inserts and plaintiff in several lawsuits against Rupert Murdoch's company.
News Corp - the parent company of the Wall Street Journal and Fox News, among others - was sued by
Valassis after the distributor accused them of unfair competition. The Michigan-based company said that News Corp used its monopoly in the supermarket advertising industry to subsidize its own coupon and insert programs. News Corp elected to settle after determining that its case was too weak for a jury trial.
The amount of the settlement was reportedly $500 million. Last year, Valassis won $300 million in damages from News America, a subsidiary of News Corp, for unfair business practices.
