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UK: Construction firms admit to cartel activity

 |  December 13, 2018

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally found that 3 drainage product manufacturers broke UK competition law by coordinating prices for customers and sharing the market.

Two of the businesses, —Derbyshire-based Stanton Bonna Concrete and Somerset-based CPM Group—have admitted to breaking competition law by taking part in a cartel, which started in 2006 and continued for almost 7 years. A third company—FP McCan—headquartered in Northern Ireland, is also under investigation and has not made any admissions.

In a “statement of objections” issued Thursday, December 13, the CMA provisionally found that the companies held regular secret meetings to set up and operate an illegal cartel. Its aim was to fix or coordinate prices and share out the market for certain pre-cast concrete drainage products in Great Britain, with the intention of increasing prices and reducing competition.

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Full Content: Gov UK

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