Heineken, Inbev face EU price-fixing charge
tough fines after the European Union charged them with price-fixing
on their home market.
The European Commission said it had evidence that a number of companies in the Netherlands got together to fix beer prices in cafés, restaurants, hotels and supermarkets between 1996 and 1999.
The EU body accused the brewers of affecting the price of beer by agreeing on prices, allocating customers, discussing the conditions with individual customers and sharing market information.
The firms involved were not identified, yet Heineken, Interbrew (Dutch arm of Inbev), Grolsch and Bavaria have each received a letter from the Commission.
Heineken, which controls around half of the Dutch beer market, said it would "study the statement of objections in detail and will prepare a response".
If any are found guilty, the Commission would have the power to impose a fine worth 10 per cent of the company's yearly sales revenue - something each defendant could well do without at a time when Western Europe's beer markets remain sluggish.
That means Grolsch could be charged around €31.4m, Heineken as much as €1bn and Inbev €856m going by 2004 turnover. In reality, however, EU Commission fines have fallen short of the 10 per cent mark.
All the firms will now have two months to respond to the accusations.
In 2002, the Commission dropped an investigation into an alleged market-sharing agreement between Heineken and fellow brewing giant Carlsberg, from Denmark, after "evidence of the kind sought for was not found".
The body had already fined a group of brewers €91m in 2000 for rigging the Belgian beer market between 1993 and 1998.
