Sept 27 (Reuters) - Smithfield Foods Inc has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit by consumers who accused the meat producer and several competitors of conspiring to inflate prices in the $20 billion-a-year U.S. pork market by limiting supply.
The accord follows the judge's Sept. 14 approval of a similar $20 million settlement between consumers and JBS SA (JBSS3.SA), one of Smithfield's largest rivals.
The Smithfield, Virginia-based company, a unit of WH Group Ltd (0288.HK), denied liability but settled to avoid the uncertainty, risk and cost of litigation, settlement papers show.
In the pork litigation, Smithfield previously reached settlements of $83 million with so-called "direct" purchasers such as Maplevale Farms and $42 million with commercial purchasers, a group that includes restaurants.
The case is In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, No.