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Germany: Beer brewers slammed with sobering fine

By  |  January 13, 2014

Germany’s competition watchdog, the Federal Cartel Office, announced fines totaling $145 million against five beer brewers for price-fixing, say reports.

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    The German companies sanctioned include Bitburger, Veltins, Barre, Krombacher and Warsteiner.

    Authorities say the brewers colluded to fix prices of beer products between 20606 and 2008; seven individuals were also reportedly implicated in the regulator’s case.

    Regulators first received allegations of beer price-fixing by conglomerate Anheuser-Busch Inbev, which subsequently avoided penalties.

    While authorities originally sought tougher fines against the firms, reports say the companies settled for smaller penalties. Six additional beer breweries are also under investigation; while they were not named, they face additional fines in the future.

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