On February 28, 2013, Germany's Federal Cartel Office
("GFCO") searched the offices of three steelmakers as
part of an antitrust investigation into steel supplies to the
automotive industry. Specifically, GFCO raided the offices of
Voestalpine, ThyssenKrupp, and ArcelorMittal as part of an
investigation into potentially illegal pricing agreements between
the steelmakers that supply the automotive industry. GFCO confirmed
it had searched the premises of these three companies at four
locations in the German states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria and
North Rhine-Westphalia as well as private residences of some of the
suspects of the probe.
Each of the companies made public statements indicating that
they are cooperating with the investigation. ThyssenKrupp's
Chairman of the Executive Board Heinrich Hiessinger, quoted on
several news outlets, said the company has a "zero
tolerance" policy regarding antitrust violations and was
further quoted as stating, "We are in the
