Lego Offers Commitments To French Watchdog

Following an open procedure by Autorité de la concurrence, the building games company Lego France, a subsidiary of Lego Group, entered into commitments designed to facilitate access for all of its distributors to its “functional discount,” regardless of whether they sell its products in-store or online.

The companies Cdiscount and EMC Distribution (referencing centre of Casino Group) have lodged a complaint with the Autorité de la concurrence concerning practices adopted by Lego, which markets the famous building games. According to the complainants, Lego has adopted a pricing policy that discriminates against online sellers, particularly pure players.

In order to address these competition concerns, Lego France proposed several commitments, which were submitted for consultation. Following the observations made within the framework of the market test, and during exchanges with the Autorité, Lego France substantially modified its initial commitment proposals.

Thus, Lego France has committed, for a period of five years, to:

  1. redefine the discount award criteria by making them more accessible to all distributors, including to any small stores wishing to develop their online presence or their delivery service;

   2. Make its discount system and timetable more transparent for its clients.