European
Commission opens investigation into alleged collusion among supermarkets
The
European Commission has launched an investigation into whether French grocery
chains Casino Guichard-Perrachon (Casino) and Les Mousquetaires (Intermarche)
have colluded in breach of Article 101 TFEU.
The
investigation follows dawn raids of the companies by the Commission in 2017 and
2019.
Casino
and Intermarche are two of the largest chains of grocery retailers in
France. For the past five years they
operated a joint venture alliance for the procurement of their branded products.
The
Commission’s investigation was prompted by concerns that the parties went
beyond the purpose of the joint venture and strayed into coordination of their
pricing policies and distribution networks.
Joint
procurement alliances are increasingly common across the EU grocery sector. The
case may well yield useful insights for the assessment of similar practices in other
EU markets.
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