(Bloomberg) – Coca-Cola’s business in Europe was one of the unidentified targets of the EU antitrust raid earlier this month, according to people familiar with the matter.
The European Commission announced on March 10 that it is conducting inspections by companies in the non-alcoholic beverage sector in several member states without naming the company. But as usual, in this case, it ignores the company’s name.
The EU’s antitrust department said beverage companies may have violated competition laws by engraving the EU market in part. Meanwhile, an unidentified personal care company has also been questioned by regulators. The person who spoke to the person who asked not to be named did not say whether Coca-Cola’s main business or its bottling partner was being inspected.
Coca-Cola did not respond to a request for comment. The European Commission declined to comment. Coke bottlers include Coca-Cola European Partner PLC and Coca-Cola HBC. No response to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
Penalties for violating group competition rules may reach 10% of global annual revenue. However, the attack facts did not consider any advice to be guilty, nor did there be a legal deadline to end the commission’s investigation. If the regulator cannot back up, the probe will usually be abandoned.
This also happens to Coca-Cola – a manufacturer of global beverage brands including Sprite, Fanta and Monster. The Brussels-based committee decided in 2023 to close a preliminary investigation into the company and its bottling units, fearing that the company would abuse its dominance by granting retailers a series of conditional discounts to hinder competition.
Prior to this, the company was under scrutiny by the EU – among other things, discount and rebate agreements with customers. The case was eventually closed, with Coca-Cola agreeing to a series of commitments to bear EU concerns.
Historically, the Commission has taken a strong stance on some companies believed to be engraving the so-called single EU market, earning higher profits by charging different prices to different regions and curbing competition.
In May 2024, Mondelez International Inc. was found to fine €337.5 million (US$364 million) in cross-border sales of its chocolate, biscuits and coffee.
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