Cartel trouble boils over
After record fine: How much will it cost the brewery?
A few days ago, the Rewe Group was fined a record 70 million euros for an initially undeclared takeover of a sales area in the Welas-Park shopping center in Wels (Upper Austria). Now many are puzzling: How much will Brau Union pay for its cartel offense? Today, Tuesday, the first court hearing will take place in Vienna.
From taking animals with you to making noise in the building - the house rules for the Palace of Justice in Vienna, where the first hearing in the Brau Union Austria case takes place today, Tuesday, in Room D, are regulated in 26 points.
In June 2024, the Federal Competition Authority applied for an "appropriate fine" to be imposed on Austria's largest brewery. This can amount to up to 10 percent of the previous year's consolidated turnover and thus run into the millions. This is because Brau Union's turnover in 2023 amounted to just over 926 million euros.
What is the beer multinational, which owns brands such as Gösser, Zipfer, Kaiser and Puntigamer and is a subsidiary of the Heineken Group, accused of? Brau Union is alleged to have threatened to stop selling beer to beverage customers if they did not also purchase other beverages from it. In addition, customers are said to have been obliged not to stock any beverages from other competitors or to cover the majority of their product range via Brau Union. In addition, there was the exchange of competition-sensitive data as well as market and customer group allocations, which, according to the Federal Competition Authority, had already been partially remedied at the time of the application.
"We are confident that we will be able to clarify the allegations made"
Brau Union, which is based in Linz, has responded in detail to the concerns raised. "Clarifying these concerns remains our top priority. We are confident that we will be able to clarify the allegations made," the company recently emphasized to the "Krone" newspaper.
Application is 260 pages long
The fact is that the imposition of the 70 million euro fine on the Rewe Group for not initially notifying the Federal Competition Authority of the takeover of a retail space in the Welas-Park in Wels as a merger shows that Brau Union's misdemeanors could well be costly. In any case, the application from the Federal Competition Authority comprises 260 pages, plus 145 enclosures.
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