SAPIO PRODUZIONE IDROGENO OSSIGENO-RIVOIRA-SOCIETÀ ITALIANA ACETILENE E DERIVATI - S.I.A.D. -SOCIETÀ OSSIGENO NAPOLI - S.O.N. -LINDE GAS ITALIA-AIR LIQUIDE ITALIA - SOL
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
ANTITRUST: FINES OF 56.9 MILLION EUROS ON EIGHT COMPANIES IN THE INDUSTRIAL GASES SECTOR
For 13 years competition was limited by a market-sharing arrangement
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 26 April 2006, levied fines on the main producers of industrial gases in Italy; they were found to have engaged in anti-competitive conduct in sharing out the clientele amongst themselves. This arrangement, which lasted 13 years from 1991 until 2004, involved the companies Air Liquide Italia S.p.A., Rivoira S.p.A., S.I.A.D. S.p.A., S.O.N. S.p.A., Sapio S.r.l., SOL S.p.A., SICO S.p.A., Linde Gas Italia S.r.l. and ERMA S.r.l. The Authority decided on a total of 56,900,000 euros in fines, apportioned as follows:
- AIR LIQUIDE: 23,100,000 euros;
- SAPIO: 8,400,000 euros;
- SIAD: 8,400,000 euros;
- SOL: 6,800,000 euros;
- RIVOIRA: 5,600,000 euros;
- LINDE: 3,600,000 euros, including a fine of 200,000 euros on ERMA which was taken over by LINDE in December 2003;
- SON: 600,000 euros;
- SICO: 400,000 euros.
The companies fined represent 90% of the market for the production and sale of numerous gases used in the food industry, in electronics, in metallurgy, in mechanical manufacturing and in healthcare (both in hospitals and in home care), including oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and specialty gases.
The market-sharing arrangement was carried on by way of meetings and contacts during which a balance was maintained in terms of the suppliers' respective client bases: the value of any customers taken away would be compensated by the offer of other customers of equivalent value. The exchange of information also extended to the various companies' pricing policies.
In the same decision, the Authority refused to authorize, by overriding antitrust rules, the request jointly presented by SAPIO, RIVOIRA and SIAD to be allowed to retain their common production unit CHEMGAS Srl. The Authority decided that competitive conditions were not such as to guarantee that efficiency gains made by the use of common production facilities would be passed on to the consumers. A request presented by SON, RIVOIRA and SIAD regarding their common unit IGAT – Industria Gas Tecnici SpA - was similarly denied. The owner companies must present within 180 days measures to limit the anti-competitive effects. And by 1 May 2008 moves must be defined for completely removing the anti-competitive effects of the arrangements, moves which must then be implemented in the following 24 months.
Rome, 20 May 2006