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Profile PageRoyal Mail fails in appeal against Ofcom’s abuse of dominance decision
Zenith'sSuzanne Rab writes:The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has upheld Ofcom's 2018 decision fining Royal Mail GBP 50 mill...
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Prof. Suzanne Rab
Zenith's Prof Suzanne Rab writes:
The Competition and Markets Authority has fined FP McCann Ltd, Stanton Bonna Concrete Ltd and CPM Group Ltd a total of £36 million for infringing the Chapter I prohibition of the Competition Act 1998 and Article 101 TFEU.
The CMA finds that the companies were involved in a price fixing and market sharing cartel in relation to the supply of pre-cast concrete draining products to the construction industry. The CMA notes that these supplies are important for a number of sectors in the UK including the utilities and house building sectors. It is likely that private and public sector purchasers suffered harm as a result.
The CMA found that the arrangements involved exchanged of competitively sensitive market information over the period 2006 – 2013 and involved senior executives at the companies.
The investigation started in 2013 with the launch by the Office of Fair Trading of a criminal case leading to a cartel offence guilty plea. The CMA opened a civil investigation in 2017, although no further criminal charges have been sought to date. This dual-track enforcement – both criminal and civil – illustrates the range of tools that the CMA has at its disposal to deal with cartel activity.
