Uruguay: LG, Samsung & others facing price-fixing sanctions

Uruguay’s Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Competition has announced it has detected possible irregularities, consisting “of price fixing in the minimum re-sale market for television sets”, with various distributors preventing retail outlets from offering their products to consumers below an agreed price.

The authority has announced sanctions on the companies that have been confirmed as participants in this price-fixing scheme, including TGM S.A. (Intcomex), Incotel S.A., Visuar Uruguay S.A. and LG Electronics Argentina. The CPDC also fined Motociclo SA for “exerting pressure” to keep the deal going, while Samsung Electronics Argentina Sucursal Uruguay was only admonished.

The companies were found guilty of “the existence of an agreement among the companies, through which they would have stopped sales of electronic products to Baranur SA” The evidence so far collected allow sanctions to be imposed on TGM, Incotel and Visuar Uruguay over anti-competitive conducts involving the sale of AOC, LG and Samsung television sets. The agency also said that LG Electronics “had engaged in price-fixing for the retail market”. Samsung’s involvement in this was not conclusively proven, however.

Full Content: El País

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