George Weston Limited and Loblaw Companies Limited Announce Settlement of Class Action Lawsuits Concerning their Involvement in Historical Industry-Wide Bread Price-Fixing Arrangement
The Companies apologize to Canadians for their role in a decade-old, industry-wide bread price-fixing arrangement and agree to a total settlement of
Upon discovering the industry-wide arrangement in
"On behalf of the Weston group of companies, we are sorry for the price-fixing behaviour we discovered and self-reported in 2015. This behaviour should never have happened. We have the privilege of serving Canadians from coast to coast. That privilege needs to be earned each and every day. Reaching a settlement on this matter was the right thing to do in response to previous behaviour that did not meet our values and ethical standards," said
"Canadians count on Loblaw to provide great value and we seek to meet their needs and earn their trust whenever and wherever they choose to shop with us," said Per Bank, President and Chief Executive Officer of Loblaw. "We will continue to work hard to deliver on that commitment."
The settlement funds will be distributed to eligible class members in accordance with a plan of distribution to be approved by the Courts. Further details regarding the distribution of the settlement payment will be available as part of the Court's approval process.
About
About
Loblaw is
Loblaw's purpose – Live Life Well® – puts first the needs and well-being of Canadians who make one billion transactions annually in the company's stores. Loblaw is positioned to meet and exceed those needs in many ways: convenient locations; more than 1,050 grocery stores that span the value spectrum from discount to specialty; full-service pharmacies at nearly 1,400 Shoppers Drug Mart® and Pharmaprix® locations and close to 500 Loblaw locations; PC Financial® services; affordable Joe Fresh® fashion and family apparel; and four of
Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including with respect to the announced litigation settlement, which reflects George Weston's and Loblaw's current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond George Weston's and Loblaw's control that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed in George Weston's and Loblaw's respective current Annual MD&A and Annual Information Form, each of which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. George Weston and Loblaw do not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and are qualified by these cautionary statements.
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