The Swiss competition authority has launched an investigation into Beiersdorf, the manufacturer of Nivea.
The Competition Commission (Weko) announced on Tuesday that it is examining whether the Nivea and Tesa group is violating antitrust laws. According to the authority, Beiersdorf is allegedly denying the retail chain Migros access to Nivea products under the same conditions offered abroad. "Beiersdorf cannot comprehend these allegations," the Hamburg-based company stated. Beiersdorf said it would cooperate with the authority to help clarify the matter.
Weko is investigating whether Migros is so dependent on Beiersdorf that there are no adequate and reasonable alternatives available, according to the antitrust watchdogs. If this is confirmed, the authority will examine whether Beiersdorf is abusing this position by charging Migros higher prices for the same Nivea products than it does comparable retailers in other countries.
(Reporting by Oliver Hirt, editing by Matthias Inverardi, edited by Olaf Brenner, Kirsti Knolle. For inquiries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)
