Three manufacturers to plead guilty to price fixing: U.S.

Panasonic Corp <6752.T>, its affiliate Sanyo Electric Co Ltd and LG Chem Ltd <051910.KS> agreed to plead guilty to separate price-fixing allegations involving automotive parts and battery cells, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

Panasonic agreed to pay about a $45.8 million criminal fine, Sanyo agreed to pay $10.7 million and LG Chem $1.1 million, the department said in a statement.

(Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)