$992 million UK lawsuit against European power cable groups gets go-ahead

LONDON (Reuters) - A 790 million-pound ($992 million) mass lawsuit against major European power cable suppliers over claims a cartel led to inflated electricity charges for British consumers can proceed to trial, a London tribunal has ruled.

The case seeking damages from Italy's Prysmian, France's Nexans and Denmark's NKT for around 30 million consumers in Britain was certified by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) last month, according to a ruling published on Friday.

Clare Spottiswoode, the former head of Britain's gas regulator, is spearheading the lawsuit, which follows on from the European Commission's 2014 finding that Prysmian, Nexans, NKT and others had operated a 10-year power cable cartel.

Her lawyers argue that the companies overcharged network operators for cables and that those costs were passed on to consumers, which the defendants deny.

Prysmian, Nexans and NKT's lawyers did not oppose Spottiswoode's case being certified at a hearing last month, but they raised concerns over how any damages might be distributed.

The CAT said the case should be certified subject to Spottiswoode's lawyers providing further proposals on how any damages awarded would be given to the claimant class.

The lawsuit, worth up to 790 million pounds including interest, will now proceed towards a full hearing, though that is unlikely to happen before the end of 2025 at the earliest.

Spottiswoode said in a statement that she was pleased with the CAT's decision, adding: "This is an important legal milestone toward the claim's goal of achieving justice for the millions of UK electricity customers who suffered from the damaging anticompetitive behaviour of corporates at the top of the supply chain."

Nexans and NKT did not immediately comment. Prysmian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Sarah Young)