Five German brewers fined for price-fixing

German beer makers Bitburger, Krombacher, Veltins, Warsteiner and the private brewery Barre have been fined for price-fixing.

Beer bottles of German breweries

Germany's competition watchdog says it has fined five brewers a total of $163m for price-fixing. (AAP)

Germany's competition watchdog says it has fined five brewers a total of 106.5 million euros ($A163 million) for price-fixing.

The beer makers involved were Bitburger, Krombacher, Veltins, Warsteiner and the private brewery Barre, said the Bundeskartellamt competition authority.

The body's president Andreas Mundt said the five brewers, and seven of their managers, had illegally agreed prices for bottled and draft beer between 2006 and 2008, mostly in personal and phone conversations.

They had agreed to raise the price of draft beer by between five and seven euros per 100 litres, and the price of a crate of 20 beer bottles by about one euro.

An investigation was continuing against two other major and four regional brewers in North Rhine-Westphalia state.

The probe was sparked by a complaint by Anheuser-Busch InBev, which markets Beck's beer, and which escaped a fine because of it had approached the watchdog, a statement by the authority said.


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world