Reuters reported that Swiss lift and escalator maker Schindler lost an appeal against a EUR 143 million cartel fine on Thursday after Europe's highest court upheld the 2007 sanction by European Union antitrust regulators.

The European Commission said that Schindler, Kone, ThyssenKrupp, United Technologies Corp's Otis unit and Mitsubishi Elevator Europe BV were fined a total of 992 million euros, a record figure at the time.

The EU competition authority said that the lifts and escalators cartel rigged bids for procurement contracts, fixed prices and shared markets between 1995 and 2004.