HELSINKI (AFP) - Finnish lift and escalator maker Kone said Monday its Austrian unit had been served with eight claims in connection with a 2007 court ruling finding it and four other companies guilty of price fixing.

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"Certain municipalities, public authorities and companies have filed civil damage claims against leading elevator and escalator companies in Austria. In total eight claims have been served on Kone's Austrian subsidiary Kone AG," the company said in a statement.

The claims against its subsidiary amounted to a total of 108 million euros (148 million dollars), Kone said.

An Austrian anti-trust court slapped five international lift and escalator companies, including Kone, with a 75.4-million-euro fine in 2007 for price fixing, and the ruling was later upheld by the Austrian Supreme Court.

Kone said: "These decisions do not by themselves ... mean that Kone or other elevator and escalator companies would have caused damage to their customers."

The company insisted the claims against its subsidiary were "without merit," but said each claim would be considered separately, and that the duration of the proceedings remained unclear.