EMILCARTA/AGRIFOOD MACHINERY
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Noncompliance proceedings have been instituted against a number of companies belonging to the Tetra Pak Group and Eaglepack Italia
At its meeting on 15 April 2004, the Competition Authority commenced an investigation into a number of companies in the Tetra Pak Group (Tetra Pak Carta S.p.A., Tetra Pak Italiana S.p.A. and Tetra Pak International) and the Eaglepack Italia S.r.l. company, on the ground that the Tetra Pak Group, by agreement with the Eaglepack company, had acquired de facto control over the Italpack S.r.l. company, in breach of the takeover ban imposed by the Authority.
For in August 1993 the Authority had prohibited Emilcarta, the company established specifically for this purpose by the Tetra Pak Group, from acquiring control of Agrifood Machinery, which at that time was the parent company of Italpack, deeming the acquisition to be likely to strengthen the dominant position of the Tetra Pak Group, with lasting anti-competitive effects on the aseptic and non-aseptic packaging markets, on which it holds a dominant position, far in excess of its competitors.
Following an inspection conducted pursuant to section 13(1) of Law 689/81 on the premises of the Tetra Pak Italiana, Tetra Pak Carta, Italpack and Eaglepack Italia companies, information was gathered and documentary evidence acquired, demonstrating that the ban on the acquisition imposed by the Authority had been breached. For it showed that despite the formal prohibition on the takeover, the Tetra Pak Group had not given up the idea of an industrial integration venture with the Italpack company.
It seems to have been the case that the industrial merger of Italpack into the Tetra Pak Group was achieved not only by acquiring corporate control of Italpack by Eaglepack Italia, but also the operational role of the latter, which has enabled the Tetra Pak Group to exercise de facto control over Italpack, as if it were a company belonging to the same group. One item of evidence was the contract and the supply agreements concluded between Italpack and the Tetra Pak Group companies, the use by Italpack of Tetra Pak Group companies' plant and machinery, and the bringing together of all the orders from the Tetra Pak Group customers under a single management, as well as the exchange of personnel from one company to the other.
The proceedings will be completed within 90 days of service of the measure on the parties concerned.
Rome, 4 May 2004