April 9 (Reuters) - Four European and American fragrance

makers have asked a U.S. judge to dismiss lawsuits accusing them

of conspiring to artificially inflate prices of ingredients that

are used to make cosmetics, cleaners and other household

products.

The companies - Switzerland-based Givaudan and Firmenich,

which is merging with Dutch chemicals group DSM; U.S.-based

International Flavors & Fragrances ( IFF ) and Germany's Symrise - in a

filing said the lawsuits filed last year in New Jersey failed to

show they agreed to fix prices.

The plaintiffs include "direct" fragrance ingredient

purchasers such as Pennsylvania-based Keystone Candle Company

and "indirect" ones like retailer Alexia Viola Napa Valley,

which bought fragrances from sources other than the defendants.

Retail consumers have also separately brought similar claims.

The fragrance makers argued in their Monday filing that the

direct and indirect purchaser plaintiffs did not identify "a

single instance of an actual agreement, any person who allegedly

participated in one, or where or how the alleged conspiracy

formed and operated," calling their claims "threadbare."

Attorneys for the plaintiffs groups did not immediately

respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

Representatives from Givaudan, Firmenich, International

Flavors & Fragrances ( IFF ) and Symrise either had no immediate comment

or declined to comment. Symrise said in August it believed the

EU search was unlawful and has challenged it.

At least nine lawsuits against the fragrance makers were

filed in U.S. court by late July, after Swiss and other

antitrust authorities revealed a cartel investigation in March

2023. The European Commission said antitrust authorities had

raided Symrise, Givaudan and Firmenich.

The U.S. lawsuits contend the companies conspired to divide

up the production of synthetic and natural ingredients used to

make fragrances in products such as detergents, cosmetics and

perfumes.

The plaintiffs said in court filings that the defendants'

sale of fragrance products in the U.S. was a multibillion-dollar

industry.

They alleged the companies began conspiring to fix prices

beginning in at least 2018 as a way to respond to a rise in the

cost of raw materials used to make fragrance products.

The defendants in Monday's filing said they engaged in

"ordinary" business conduct such as gathering competitive

intelligence and attendance at trade associations.

The cases are Fragrance Direct Purchaser Antitrust

Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, No.

2:23-cv-02174-WJM-JSA; Fragrance Indirect Purchaser Antitrust

Litigation, same court, No. 2:23-cv-03249-WJM-JSA; and Fragrance

End-User Plaintiff Antitrust Litigation, same court, No.

2:23-cv-16127-WJM-JSA

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