German retail giant Rewe has been fined EUR20.8m (US$26.7m) by Austria’s competition authority for price fixing.
Last year Rewe was investigated as part of a price-fixing investigation in Austria. The Austrian competition authority, the Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde, searched the retailer’s offices amid claims of collusion with suppliers.
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The regulator said Rewe’s Billa and Merkur chains had “agreed on sale prices and other parameters with suppliers from 2007 to 2012”.
In a statement this week, Rewe said it was able to work out a “mutually acceptable solution” on vertical price fixing with the country’s competition authority following months of “intensive and constructive” negotiations.
“Despite different interpretations of the law, Rewe International agreed to a one-time payment of fines,” the company said.
Following negotiations, Rewe said a ‘”behaviour guide” has been produced in collaboration with the Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde, which it says will provide “greater legal security” in the food and drugstore retail industry for both traders and suppliers.
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By GlobalData“This guide [will] prevent violations of the law and is a clear sign for the entire industry.”
Rewe International CEO Frank Hensel said: “This is the first time that such a guide has been created. So far, companies [have] acted partly in a legal grey area.” He said the new guidelines will prevent future violations, even “unintentional” ones.
