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The Oregon Department of Justice has announced a settlement with one of the state’s largest highway striping companies and a multinational conglomerate for allegedly engaging in illegal and anti-competitive practices on state highway projects.

Tualatin-based Specialized Pavement Marking Inc. and Maplewood, Minn.-based 3M have agreed to pay a combined total of $750,000 to the state of Oregon.

The two companies also will pay a combined total of $750,000 to the Oregon Department of Transportation, which will use the money as a credit for future projects and materials, according to the Justice Department.

The settlement followed an approximately two-year investigation by the Justice Department into suspected violations of state and federal antitrust laws. The Justice Department alleged that 3M and Specialized Pavement Marking exchanged information regarding bids, coordinated bids, allocated projects, and provided false certifications.

“The state’s competitive bidding process requires for the state to get the best deal,” said Michael Kron, a spokesman for the Justice Department. “We cannot have those submitting bids to be talking to each other. When they’re not competing honestly, that potentially causes the cost of contracts to go up.”

Specialized Pavement Marking has city, state and federal contracts in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Alaska and Canada. 3M, which operates in 70 countries, was working in Oregon as a subcontractor and materials supplier. Both companies denied any wrongdoing.

“Although we don’t like to settle because the allegations are false, we agreed to settle because it was a prudent business decision,” Mark Price, Specialized Pavement Marking’s president, said. “The cost to continue would exceed the settlement.”