ZEON Chemicals L.P. ("ZCLP", located in Kentucky, U.S.), a wholly owned subsidiary of ZEON Corporation, announced on January 12th (Japan time: January 13th) that ZCLP has entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") with respect to the DOJ's ongoing investigation into acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR).
ZCLP, under the terms of the agreement, has agreed to pay a fine of 10.5 million US dollars to resolve allegations that it engaged in anti-competitive activity.
The plea agreement, if approved by the court, resolves all charges by the government against the company and its affiliates for activities related to the NBR business in the U.S.
The aforementioned fine will be posted as a loss in ZEON Corporation's consolidated financial statement for the third quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005.