Hub-and-spoke Cases in the Portuguese Grocery Sector

Resale price maintenance (“RPM”) restrictions may play an instrumental role in implementing collusive agreements downstream, in a hub-and-spoke arrangement. This is highlighted in two recent decisions by the Portuguese Competition Authority (“AdC”) on two hub-and-spoke arrangements involving large grocery stores and beverage suppliers. In these cases, the AdC opted to pursue hub-and-spoke cases rather than pure RPM cases, as that would fail to capture the actual conduct of all firms invo