It said it found that Modelo Continente, owned by Portugal’s retailer Sonae, Pingo Doce, run by Jeronimo Martins, and France’s Auchan and Intermarche aligned prices for beer and beverages distributed by Heineken-owned Central de Cervejas e Bebidas and by the local Super Bock Group.
The four supermarket chains, as well as the local units of Germany’s Lidl and France’s E.Leclerc, also used the same scheme with the Portuguese wine and liquor distributor Prime Drinks, the authority said.
“If confirmed, that conduct is very serious,” the competition authority said in a statement late on Friday, adding that the case was one of the first “hub-and-spoke” schemes to be investigated in Portugal.
“This practice is equivalent to a cartel where distributors, without communicating between themselves, resort to bilateral contracts with suppliers to promote and guarantee that all practice the same public price in the retail market.”
Full Content: Reuters
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
DirecTV and Disney Resolve Dispute, Restore Programming for Subscribers
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
UK Antitrust Authority Raises Concerns Over Vodafone-Three Merger
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
Brazilian Supreme Court Lifts Freeze on Starlink Accounts, Transfers $3.3 Million to National Treasury
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
Steptoe Expands Antitrust Practice with Key London Hire
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
Instant Ad Auctions at the Heart of Google’s Federal Monopoly Case
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Canada & Mexico
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI
Competitive Convergence: Mexico’s 30-Year Quest for Antitrust Parity with its Northern Neighbor
Sep 3, 2024 by
Francisco Javier Núñez Melgoza
Competition and Digital Markets in North America: A Comparative Study of Antitrust Investigations in Mexico and the United States
Sep 3, 2024 by
Julio Garcia
Recent Antitrust Development in Mexico: COFECE’s Preliminary Report on Amazon and Mercado Libre
Sep 3, 2024 by
Alejandra Palacios Prieto
The Cost of Making COFECE Disappear
Sep 3, 2024 by
Mateo Fernández