[ad_1]
The Competition Authority struck hard Friday by imposing on the group Fnac Darty a fine of 20 million euros for non-compliance with its commitments in connection with the merger of the two banners, an amount deemed "disproportionate" by the group. This financial penalty represents more than half of the 37 million euros in net profit earned in 2017 by the distributor of electronic, cultural and household appliances.
It also has a new character: it is the first inflicted by the Autorité de la concurrence to an enterprise for failure to comply with ceding commitments that condition a concentration. The acquisition of Darty mid-April 2016 for 1.1 billion euros by Fnac – after a Homeric battle with Conforama – had allowed the "cultural agitator" to gain competitive advantages against giants of the net like Amazon or CDiscount, in a highly disputed and recovering electrical appliance market.
Three months later, the regulator gave the go-ahead, paving the way for the marriage of the two brands, which together make around 7 , 5 billion euros of annual turnover. But it had included this authorization of a condition: the sale before August 1, 2017, six stores in Paris and the Paris region, including Darty Wagram, Darty Italy 2 and Darty Vélizy, which were sold on time. 19659002] In contrast, Fnac Beaugrenelle, Darty Belleville and Darty Saint-Ouen were not. However Fnac Darty has "presented neither contract of sale nor buyer" for Fnac Beaugrenelle, argued the Authority in its decision made public Friday.
As for the buyer of the other two stores, he did not been approved by the Authority because it has not seen in him an "effective" competitor of the new entity on "brown products" (TV, hi-fi, audio …) and "gray" (computers , peripherals, telephony). The Authority had ruled in 2016, that in Paris and the south-west of the Paris region, "alternatives offered to the consumer (were) not sufficient to ensure effective competition by prices and the quality of services"
Punishment "disproportionate"
Friday, in addition to the fine, she ordered the sale of two establishments, the stores Darty Montmartre and Darty Pbady, "in substitution" of the three which have not been sold. "In a very competitive environment for physical trade, the group has made its best efforts to execute the decisions requested by the Authority," Fnac Darty reacted immediately Friday, saying it will "challenge the disproportionate amount of punishment" . This one is susceptible of appeal before the Council of State.
"By not yielding, within the time envisaged, three of the six stores on which it had engaged, Fnac Darty has committed a serious breach of its obligations , which has prevented consumers from quickly benefiting from a new offer of electronic products in Paris, "argued Isabelle de Silva, the president of the Competition Authority. For its part, Fnac Darty recalls having solicited in vain, an additional period to yield the Fnac Beaugrenelle.
The group however specifies to have "already found a buyer" for the two stores whose badignment is requested, in substitution of the three unrealized sales. According to the Authority, the amount of the penalty takes into account the "efforts made" by Fnac Darty to sell the first three stores.
Only two other financial sanctions decided by the regulator -but not related to the required disposals – for breaches of obligations in connection with a concentration have had a higher amount. This is the 40 million euros fine imposed on Numéricâble in 2017 for the acquisition of the mobile operator SFR and the 30 million euros in fines imposed on Cbad + in 2011 when the TPS package was taken over.
(With AFP)
[ad_2]
Source link
