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Alleged price fixing: acquittal for Kölsch breweries in the process of the beer cartel

Did several breweries come to an agreement on price increases for Kölsch between 2006 and 2008, thereby violating antitrust law? The judiciary in Düsseldorf is still concerned with that.

In the Düsseldorf proceedings surrounding an alleged beer cartel, three Kölsch breweries and two of their managers were acquitted of allegations of illegal price fixing.

The 4th Cartel Senate of the Higher Regional Court could not find any agreements between the breweries Früh, Gaffel and Erzquell, said a court spokesman after the verdict was announced on Wednesday.

The Federal Cartel Office had fined the three breweries more than 8 million euros. On the other hand, they were brought before the OLG. The court proceedings concerned the question of whether the breweries had agreed on prices that were contrary to antitrust law at a meeting of the competition committee of the North Rhine-Westphalia Brewery Association in September 2007.

The court found no evidence of this at its testimony. Only 2 of the total of 14 witnesses believed they could remember the meeting. The memory of one was too vague for a conviction, according to the court announcement. In the opinion of the Senate, the testimony of the other witness was overall chaotic, marked by bizarre mix-ups and in some cases incorrect.

Overall, in 2013 and 2014 the Bundeskartellamt imposed fines of around 338 million euros on 11 breweries and 14 personally responsible persons in the course of the beer cartel proceedings. The breweries are said to have agreed on price increases in 2006 and 2008. The case is still preoccupying the judiciary: The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court is currently negotiating again about the objection of the brewery giant Carlsberg Germany against the fine of 62 million euros imposed on him by the Cartel Office.

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