The sanctioned companies are, according to a press release from the Competition Authority, BSH, Candy Hoover, Eberhardt, Electrolux, Whirlpool (as successor to Indesit), LG, Miele, SEB, Smeg, Whirlpool, Boulanger and Darty. The objective of these agreements: “to reduce competition, particularly that exerted by online distributors, and to maintain high sales prices for consumers,” specifies the Authority.
The “weight” of Darty and Boulanger
The means put in place ranged from banning the sale of certain products on the internet to the communication of “recommended retail prices” by manufacturers with “coded language to conceal the price instructions”, followed by “surveillance” to ensure that distributors respected them. Distributors exclusively active on the internet claimed to have been discriminated against if they did not have physical stores.
“Traditional distributors, including the two main ones, Darty and Boulanger, fully participated in these agreements,” underlines the Competition Authority, emphasizing the “weight” of the two behemoths which sought to ensure that “the products that they were selling would not find themselves significantly cheaper elsewhere, particularly online.”
Fnac Darty indicated in a separate press release that the amount of its fine amounted to 109 million euros. The group had provisioned 84 million euros in anticipation of this sanction from the first half of 2023 and announced on Thursday that it “will record an additional charge of 24 million euros in the 2024 financial year, with no impact on operating income. fluent “.
First sanction in 2018
Like nine others, Fnac Darty had decided not to contest the grievance notified by the Competition Authority in order to “quickly put an end to a complex procedure” and concentrate on its “strategic plan”. The manufacturer SEB and the distributor Boulanger chose to contest the complaints and were fined 189.5 and 84.35 million euros respectively.
