The FTC has sued the nation’s largest alcohol distributor for fixing the prices of spirits

Reports indicate that antitrust regulators are preparing to sue the country’s largest alcohol distributor over allegedly anti-competitive pricing practices.

This was reported by anonymous internal sources Policy The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Southern Glazer’s wine and spirits for potential violations of a rarely enforced 1936 antitrust law.

The Robinson-Patman Act prohibits companies from discriminating against smaller suppliers by increasing their prices, but it has not been the subject of FTC cases for more than two decades.

Officials investigating Southern have reportedly recommended filing a lawsuit as early as this month, and company officials plan to lobby FTC Chair Lina Khan and her fellow commissioners against the action.

Southern declined to comment to Politico on the report. The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Florida-based company reportedly controls about 20 percent of the U.S. wholesale wine and spirits market, enjoying a near duopoly with its closest rival in some states.

Beginning in 2021, the Biden administration seeks to crack down on market abuses by abandoning the narrow understanding of U.S. antitrust law that has been standard since Ronald Reagan. It’s part of the administration’s efforts to crack down on pricing practices to help consumers.

An executive order issued in July 2021 specifically mentioned “beer, wine, and spirits markets,” directing the FTC to report any “exclusionary, discriminatory, or anticompetitive distribution practices that hinder smaller and independent businesses or new market entrants.”

In March, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking to break up Ticketmaster’s parent company, alleging that it had raised prices for consumers in an “illegal monopoly.”

Apple, Amazon and Facebook’s parent company Meta are also being sued on antitrust grounds, while Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Kraft-Heinz are reportedly under investigation.