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UK: High Court judgement in Tobacco validates CMA

By  |  January 26, 2015

On Monday the High Court rejected the claims brought by Gallaher and Somerfield, who argued that they had been treated unfairly in agreements reached with the Office of Fair Trading after an investigation into anti-competitive practices relating to the sale of tobacco.

The OFT’s investigation into the retail pricing of tobacco products began in March 2003 and reached a decision imposing total fines of 300 million on a number of retailers for pricing arrangements which the OFT found had infringed Chapter I of the Competition Act.

In the present proceedings Gallaher and Somerfield argued that they had been treated unfairly by comparison with another company that had entered into an early resolution agreement and should have their penalties repaid.

The High Court has rejected the claims which reaffirms the use of early resolution agreements in antitrust cases in the UK.

Full Content: Gov.uk

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