GE GE Aerospace

   (FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 11/21/15) 
   By Brent Kendall 

WASHINGTON -- Electrolux AB is seeking to retract testimony by its chief executive in an antitrust trial where it is fighting to save its planned purchase of General Electric Co.'s appliance business, a potential setback for the company's legal defense.

A lawyer for Electrolux on Friday told a U.S. federal judge that Chief Executive Keith McLoughlin gave incorrect details on product-offering developments by competitors during testimony Thursday as he sought to rebut antitrust claims from the Justice Department. The government has sued to block the $3.3 billion deal on allegations that it will lead to higher prices for cooking appliances.​

Mr. McLoughlin had told U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan that competitive pressures from Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. were increasing continuously, including since the government filed its lawsuit in July to challenge the Electrolux-GE deal. In the last few months, Samsung and LG had started selling cooking ranges for lower price points such as $399 and $499, moving beyond its higher-end appliances to target value consumers, Mr. McLoughlin said.

It turns out that statement wasn't true. "It was a misstatement," Electrolux lawyer John Majoras told the judge Friday. Mr. Majoras said that after Thursday's proceedings, Mr. McLoughlin went back and reviewed the information on which he had based his testimony, and realized his comments were based on a misrecollection of which companies were selling products at those prices.

"He wants to correct that record, your honor," Mr. Majoras told the judge.

Judge Sullivan said the situation was unusual and might raise some thorny issues, but added he could "understand why in good faith somebody would go back and say, 'You know what, I was wrong on that.'"

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 21, 2015 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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