Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—N.D. Ill.: $72.5 million settlement approved in PVC pipe price fixing case, (May 15, 2026)

By Steven Melendez

PVC pipe manufacturers were accused of fixing prices and overcharging customers for PVC electrical conduit and municipal water pipes.

A $72.5 million settlement between direct purchasers and some PVC pipe manufacturers, known as converters, has been preliminary approved in a class action over alleged price fixing in the PVC pipe industry by the federal district court in Chicago, Illinois. The proposed settlement covers buyers of PVC pipe and fittings from a set of manufacturer defendants between January 1, 2020 and March 31, 2026. The settlement would resolve claims against Atkore Inc., Atkore International, Inc., Atkore Plastic Pipe Corp., Atkore RMCP, Inc., Allied Tube & Conduit Corporation, and affiliated brands Heritage, Queen City Plastics, Rocky Mountain Colby Pipe, and Cor-Tek (collectively, “Atkore”), while claims against 14 other converters proceed (In Re PVC Pipe Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:24-cv-07639 (N.D. Ill. May 13, 2026)).

Background. Six converters control approximately 90% of the wholesale market for PVC municipal water pipe and seven converters control about 95% of the wholesale market for PVC electrical conduit in the United States. PVC municipal water pipe carries water from reservoirs, lakes, and rivers to treatment facilities and from there to water mains that distribute it to communities. PVC electrical conduct pipe protects bundles of electrical wires.

Converters allegedly exploited COVID-19 supply chain disruptions to fix prices and overcharge customers. Oil Price Information Service, LLC (OPIS), a reporting service that provides pricing and market data to paying subscribers, allegedly facilitated the sharing of relevant information and served as a sounding board between the converters to advance the conspiracy. OPIS, along with Westlake Corporation and Westlake Pipe & Fittings Corporation, have reached separate settlements in the case, according to the settlement notice announcing the Atkore settlement.

OPIS is a commodity pricing service letting users buy, sell, and hedge prices for fuels. It also claimed to “uniquely price[] commodities throughout the supply chain—from the spot market to the wholesale rack or terminal market and ultimately to more than 400,000 retail locations across North America and Europe.” In the PVC pipe business, it’s also alleged to have created a “backroom” letting converters discuss pricing activities, get access to pricing data from competitors, and ultimately extract inflated profits from their customers. The company also allegedly served as a sounding board between the pipe converters to discuss pricing information and facilitate the conspiracy.

The Department of Justice had also previously moved to intervene and stay discovery in the price-fixing civil class action case, citing secrecy around a grand jury investigation into alleged price-fixing and bid-rigging.

Settlement. The proposed settlement applies only to parties who purchased pipe directly from one of the converter defendants that was manufactured by a converter defendant. Also excluded are public water and wastewater systems that bought PVC pipe for end-use, suppliers of public energy or electricity who bought pipe for end-use, purchasers who bought pipe from a seller who bought then indirectly from defendants, and federal government entities.

The settlement also doesn’t affect the existing settlements with OPIS or Westlake and doesn’t resolve claims against other converters.

The court granted preliminary approval to the proposed settlement following a hearing on May 13, 2026, Settlement class members are able to exclude themselves from the settlement, object to the settlement, or participate in an upcoming fairness hearing.

The Case is No. 1:24-cv-07639.

Judge: Hunt, L.

Attorneys: Anthony J. Stauber (Gustafson Gluek PLLC) for George Bavolak. Brian Dale Brooks (Glancy Prongay Wolke & Rotter LLP) for TC Construction, Inc. Elana Katcher (Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP) for Bill Wagner & Son, Inc. Britt Marie Miller (Mayer Brown LLP) for Atkore, Inc. Daniel Kenton Oakes (Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP) for Cantex Inc. Bryan Gant (White & Case) for IPEX U.S. LLC.

Companies: TC Construction, Inc.; Bill Wagner & Son, Inc.; Atkore, Inc.; Cantex Inc.; IPEX U.S. LLC

Cases: Antitrust IllinoisNews