Top executives of Carlsberg, SABMiller and India’s United Breweries (UB) exchanged commercially sensitive information and colluded to fix beer prices in India over 11 years, according to a government antitrust investigation report seen by Reuters.
The companies also used the All India Brewers Association (AIBA) as a “common platform” to decide collectively on prices; and the local group then lobbied on the companies’ behalf for price increases, the CCI report found.
At least three times, executives exchanged messages urging one another to keep their plans quiet, the report showed.
“We should avoid getting caught,” AIBA’s director general wrote in an e-mail in 2016 to executives of the three companies.
The brewers coordinated to “manipulate the government machinery” and “were well aware that their collective approach through the association (AIBA) was violating” competition law, the 248-page CCI report said. The report concluded the cartel existed between 2007 and October 2018.
The CCI did not respond to Reuters queries. Lobby group AIBA and Carlsberg declined to comment, citing ongoing CCI proceedings.
United Breweries, part-owned by Heineken, said it had cooperated with authorities and would make submissions to the CCI. Heineken didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, which acquired SABMiller in 2016, said it takes “antitrust compliance very seriously”.
INVESTIGATION, ‘CLEAR ADMISSION’
The CCI raids in 2018 seized hundreds of files and more than 2 terabytes of data from laptops, pen drives and smartphones.
The case was triggered when AB InBev used CCI's "leniency programme" to disclose that it had detected a cartel while integrating SABMiller's operations in India. Later in 2018, UB and Carlsberg also filed leniency applications, Reuters has reported.
Under the programme, the CCI can reduce the penalties it imposes on companies depending on the cooperation they provide. In this case, 19 beer executives engaged in anticompetitive practices, the CCI’s investigation report says.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
