Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other Antitrust and Trade Regulation developments, (May 10, 2016)
Organizations Mentioned:Anheuser Busch InBev Germany Holding GmbH | Dirk Rossmann GmbH | Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG | Ultra Finishing, Ltd.
A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community:
ANTITRUST NEWS: Germany's Bundeskartellamt has announced the results of its recent competition proceedings in the retail food and beverage sectors. In its investigation into agreements between the brewer Anheuser Busch InBev Germany Holding GmbH, Bremen (AB InBev) and retailers of various brands of beer, including Beck’s, Franziskaner and Hasseröder, the Bundeskartellamt has imposed new fines on various retailers totaling €90.5 million. No fines were imposed on AB InBev and the retailer REWE Zentral due to their extensive cooperation with the investigations. In the confectionery product category, a fine was imposed on Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG for applying resale price maintenance in its sale of Haribo products. In the coffee product category, a fine was imposed on Dirk Rossmann GmbH for applying resale price maintenance in its sale of Melitta products. The Bundeskartellamt reported that it has imposed fines of over 242 million Euros for illegal price agreements between manufacturers and retailers for confectionery, coffee, pet food, beer, and body care products.
ANTITRUST NEWS: The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced the imposition of a £786,668 fine against Ultra Finishing, Ltd., a manufacturer of bathroom fittings, for engaging in resale price maintenance during 2012-2014 with respect to Internet sales of its Hudson Reed and Ultra branded products. Ultra has agreed to set up a program to help ensure compliance with competition law within its business and among its staff and to submit a report on its compliance activities to the CMA each year for the next three years. These steps resulted in the application of a 5 percent reduction of the original fine amount of £1,032,502.
Companies: Anheuser Busch InBev Germany Holding GmbH; Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG; Dirk Rossmann GmbH; Ultra Finishing, Ltd.
News: Antitrust