ZCZC
BCN-01
CHILE-BUSINESS-ECONOMY-JUSTICE
Walmart, local stores hit with $12 mn price-fixing fine in Chile
SANTIAGO, March 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Chilean anti-trust court on Thursday
fined two homegrown supermarket chains and the local branch of Walmart $12.4
million for colluding to fix the price of fresh chicken.
The Court for the Defense of Free Competition found that Walmart, Cencosud
and SMU had worked together to set prices from 2008 to 2011.
The three chains, which control 92.5 percent of Chile’s grocery sector,
said Thursday in separate statements that that they would appeal the ruling
to the country’s Supreme Court.
The case is the latest in a long line of similar price-fixing schemes to
plague Chile, including over toilet paper and cement production.
After news of the scandal broke in 2016, the three chains faced a public
backlash, with protesters using social media to organize demonstrations
against the companies.
BSS/AFP/RY/08:30 hrs