Norway’s top three food retailers face fines totaling a record 21 billion Norwegian crowns (US$2.4 billion) for breaching antitrust rules, its Competition Authority announced on Tuesday, December 15.
Norgesgruppen, Coop, and Rema 1000 have cooperated in ways that may have resulted in inflated prices, reported Reuters. If confirmed, the combined fine would be the largest ever sought by the regulator in any antitrust case.
The three have each employed so-called price hunters to survey stores operated by competitors, and similarly agreed to allow those surveyors access to their own stores, which they said resulted in fierce competition and lower prices.
“Our investigation has shown that the practice of scanning prices at each other’s stores may have resulted in the companies jointly pushing up prices,” the regulator said in a statement.
“Norgesgruppen is categorically rejecting the competition authority’s claim. The industry norm and the so-called ‘price hunters’ have led to lower prices and been favourable for Norwegian consumer interests,” it said in a statement.
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