BRUSSELS/HANNOVER (dpa-AFX) - The EU antitrust authorities raided several tire manufacturers in several member states on Tuesday, including the German Dax group Continental. Continental confirmed that investigations by European antitrust authorities have been taking place at the company in Germany since that day. The company would not comment further on ongoing proceedings.

According to the European Commission in Brussels, there is an initial suspicion that several companies in the tire replacement business for cars, vans, trucks and buses may have agreed on prices and thus violated competition guidelines. The investigations took place unannounced. The Brussels authorities did not name any companies. Conti shares fell noticeably in the afternoon and last traded down 2.8 percent./men/he