A cartel of cement companies put a smaller company run by two brothers out of business through a sustained conspiracy of anti-competitive practices, it was claimed in the High Court yesterday.
Brothers Seamus and Francis Maye applied to the court to have one of their companies restored to the Companies Register so that it may proceed with legal action against the alleged cartel. Mr Justice O'Neill reserved judgment.
Mr Bill Shipsey SC, for the Mayes, said they had set up Amantiss Enterprises in 1986, with offices at Strandhill, Sligo, to import and sell cement. It ceased trading in March 1991 and went into voluntary creditors' liquidation in April 1994.
Three companies run by the brothers - Amantiss Enterprises, Framus Ltd and Wilbury Ltd (which is also in voluntary liquidation) - initiated legal proceedings against the alleged cartel, claiming some or all of them had indulged in anti-competitive practices causing Amantiss to be forced out of business.
The companies being sued are CRH plc, Irish Cement Ltd, Roadstone Provinces Ltd, Roadstone Dublin Ltd, Tradburn Ltd, Readymix plc, Kilsaran Concrete Products Ltd and CPI Ltd.
The accused companies deny the allegations. One of those companies discovered that Amantiss Enterprises had been struck off the Companies Register in 1993 for failing to supply annual accounts.
A number of lawyers for the accused companies yesterday opposed the restoration of Amantiss Enterprises to the register. They argued that Amantiss should not be permitted to continue with legal proceedings against them because, at the time it launched the proceedings in 1996, Amantiss did not legally exist.
In affidavits presented by Mr Shipsey, the Maye brothers said they were unaware that Amantiss Enterprises was struck off the Companies Register in 1993. They discovered their company was struck off only in August 1999 as a result of one of the accused companies' inquiries.
The brothers said they were unaware Amantiss Enterprises was struck off the Companies Register in 1993 because they were working up to 100 hours a week.