Coca Cola in the crosshairs of EU antitrust authorities

Author: Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators have launched a preliminary investigation into Coca Cola Co, the European Commission said on Friday.

“We can confirm that the Commission has sent out questionnaires as part of its preliminary investigation into Coca-Cola,” a Commission spokeswoman said.

“The preliminary investigation is ongoing. We cannot comment or predict its timing or outcome,” she said, declining to provide further details.

Coca Cola said it received a formal request for information on Thursday.

“While we will cooperate fully with the Commission, it would be inappropriate to comment further while the process is ongoing. We comply with European competition law, as well as all other applicable laws and regulations,” a Coca Cola spokesman said.

Lobbying group EuroCommerce, which includes Carrefour, Ikea, Metro and Tesco, said the sales practices of some large international brands were of concern to retailers and wholesalers.

“For many years, we have been drawing attention to the problems our sector is facing, as producers of ‘must-have’ products use their market power to impose unilateral conditions and restrict competition to their advantage,” Christian Verschueren, CEO of EuroCommerce, said in a statement.

The German media Lebensmittelzeitung was the first to report about the EU investigation.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, editing by Louise Heavens)