By Nathan Allen

Spain's competition watchdog has fined Siemens AG (SIE.XE), Alstom SA (ALO.FR) and Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA (ACS.MC) and 12 other companies 118 million euros ($133.3 million) for rigging public contracts awarded by rail-infrastructure operator ADIF.

The regulator--known as CNMC--said the 15 companies that were fined had operated as three separate cartels to manipulate the contracting process over a period of 14 years.

On top of the EUR118 million, CNMC imposed fines totaling EUR666,000 to 14 company directors who were found to be responsible for the manipulation.

According to the watchdog, various configurations of the 15 companies conspired to illegally share out contracts relating to the electrification of the high-speed AVE rail network, the electrification of the regular rail network, and for the installation and maintenance of high-speed rail equipment.

The total value of contracts awarded to the AVE-electrification cartel reached EUR837 million, the regulator said.

Spanish construction group ACS's Cobra subsidiary was fined EUR27.2 million, while Germany's Siemens was hit with a EUR16.8 million fine, the CNMC said. Alstom, which alerted the regulator to the cartel activity as part of a whistleblowing program, was slapped with an EUR8.8 million penalty.

Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 27, 2019 08:42 ET (12:42 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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