Auction houses agree to settle more claims

In what could be the last chapter of years of legal trouble, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, the world’s largest auction houses, have agreed to pay $20 million each to resolve antitrust claims by customers outside the United States.

The proposed settlement, which must be approved by U.S. courts, stems from a criminal case in which former Sotheby’s Chairman A. Alfred Taubman was convicted of conspiring with former Christie’s chief Anthony J. Tennant to fix commissions and premiums on auctions conducted between 1993 and 1999.

Their collusion, the court said, could have cost their clients an estimated $400 million. The houses have already agreed to pay $512 million to U.S. customers harmed by the deal.

Taubman, convicted in 2001, is serving a prison sentence, and Tennant, who refused to come to the U.S. to be tried, lives in England. He cannot be extradited on antitrust charges.

“We’re reached an agreement in settling an important litigation,” said Matthew Weigman, a spokesman for the London- and New York-based Sotheby’s. “It’s good.”

“Christie’s is pleased that an agreement has been reached to settle the case, subject to court approval,” said Joel Gunderson, a spokesman for the London-based company in a prepared statement.

“This is great news” for Sotheby’s, said George F. Sutton, an analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group in Minneapolis. “This puts all the major litigation behind the company. Twenty million is a small amount in the context of the domestic settlement.”

A federal appeals court decision in New York last March authorized auction customers outside the U.S. to make claims in U.S. courts for damages.

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.