• Reuters, Thursday, July 23, 2009 9:54 PM

A Michigan court judge awarded newspaper coupon company Valassis Communications $300 million in damages in a lawsuit against a News Corp. subsidiary.

Valassis claimed that News America Marketing engaged in unfair competition and "tortious interference." A jury found News America Marketing liable for both counts. Valassis also has lawsuits pending against the News Corp unit in a federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan and the California Supreme Court.

News America says it will appeal the decision. Chris Mixson, president, says the lawsuit was "part of a larger strategy to get News America Marketing to raise its prices, a move that would have affected both our clients and their consumers by reducing the number of coupons available."

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