DUBLIN (From news reports) -- Smurfit Westrock and several other cardboard box manufacturers have been sued in a Milan court by hundreds of businesses.

The companies allege in a collective claim that they were overcharged for years as a result of anti-competitive practices in the industry.

The 363 businesses, which are suing through a special purpose vehicle, are seeking €400 million in damages, making it the largest collective claim to ever be pursued in Italy, according to Global Competition Review, which first reported on the action.

London-based DS Smith, which was bought by International Paper in the US last year, and 24 other packaging companies are also among those being sued.

Businesses in the food and furniture industry are among hundreds of unnamed businesses that say they suffered losses because they overpaid for cardboard packaging as a result of two 13-year-long conspiracies, it said.

A Smurfit Westrock spokeswoman said the company "cannot comment on ongoing cases".

However, Ireland's first multinational group had been anticipating such a move for some time, having been hit by a €124 million fine from the Italian Market Competitiveness Protection Authority (AGCM) in 2019 for being part of a cartel. Smurfit Westrock - then known as Smurfit Kappa - received the highest individual penalty, as a total of €287 million of fines were imposed on industry players in the market.

Smurfit Westrock said in its most recent annual report, for 2024, that a number of purchasers of corrugated sheets and boxes had initiated legal proceedings in the wake of the 2019 fine, while others have threatened litigation.

"The company believes it has significant defences to the damages claims and intends to vigorously defend the current and any future litigation," it said in the report.

DS Smith had secured immunity in an Italian watchdog investigation for providing information that led to fines elsewhere.

The Italian paper packaging industry investigation involved two strands. The AGCM said in 2019 that a number of companies involved in producing and marketing corrugated cardboard sheets, including Smurfit Kappa Italia, DS Smith, Pro-Gest and Innova Group, as well as the trade association, put together a "unique and complex agreement" between 2004 and 2017 to define sales prices and periods of production halts in plants.

Separately, many of the same companies and the industry body were involved in another complex agreement between 2005 and 2017 covering market shares, sales prices and other commercial terms in the corrugated cardboard packaging market, according to the AGCM.