KUALA LUMPUR (March 6): Poultry producer Leong Hup International Bhd (KL:LHI) said its subsidiary has secured leave from the High Court to commence a judicial review of the Competition Appeal Tribunal's (CAT) decison to dismiss its appeal against a fine imposed for price-fixing.
CAT had on Feb 11 dismissed the appeals by the subsidiary, Leong Hup Feedmill Malaysia Sdn Bhd (LFM), and three other feedmillers against the Malaysia Competition Commission’s (MyCC) decision to impose the largest competition fine in the country’s history over price-fixing in the chicken feed industry.
In a bourse filing on Friday, Leong Hup said the court also granted LFM an ad interim stay order (after hearing one party) in relation to CAT’s and MyCC’s decisions, until the determination of the subsidiary's application for an interim stay (after hearing both parties) on the matter.
An interim stay is a temporary halt in the enforcement of a decision to preserve the status quo while the court considers the legal challenge.
“The High Court will fix a case management date for further directions on the filing of cause papers and to fix a hearing date for LFM’s application for interim stay,” said Leong Hup.
LFM's legal challenge stems from MyCC’s December 2023 decision to impose a combined RM415.5 million penalty on five feed millers, after finding them guilty of forming a cartel to coordinate price increases in the chicken feed market between January 2020 and June 2022.
The commission said the coordinated pricing had artificially inflated poultry production costs, which ultimately affected chicken prices for consumers.
The five feed millers involved — which collectively controlled about 40% of the market during the investigation period — are LFM, Dindings Poultry Development Centre, FFM Bhd, Gold Coin Feedmills (M) Sdn Bhd, and PK Agro-Industrial Products (M) Sdn Bhd.
Four of the companies — LFM, Dindings, FFM and Gold Coin — appealed the fine decision, but CAT dismissed their appeals, affirming MyCC’s ruling.
The four companies faced a combined penalty of RM367 million, with LFM bearing the largest share at RM157.5 million.