C3460F - PARMALAT/EUROLAT (COMPLETION OF INVESTIGATION)
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
ANTITRUST AUTHORITY FINES PARMALAT €2.2 MILLION FOR DELAY IN SALE OF NEWLAT
The company did not meet the deadline set in the Authority's earlier ruling but the sale of Newlat to the TMT group is deemed to ensure a significant level of competition in the fresh milk market in Campania and Latium
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 21 May 2008, decided to fine Parmalat for not having complied with the Authority's previous ruling obliging it to dispose of Newlat by 30 October 2007. The fine of Euro 2,226,900 is the statutory minimum because the Authority took Parmalat's conduct into account, even though its recent sale of this subsidiary took place six months after the prescribed deadline (October 2007). At the same meeting, the Authority authorized the TMT group's purchase of Newlat.
This fine closes the non-compliance proceeding against Parmalat that the Antitrust Authority launched on 15 November 2007 given that the company, despite having received several extensions, still had not put into effect the measures stipulated by the Authority.
In order to eliminate the distortions caused by the Parmalat/Eurolat merger and to re-establish effective competition, the Authority had in fact, in June 2005, ordered the sale of the Matese and Torre in Pietra brands and two factories in Frosinone and Paestum-Capaccio Scalo which belonged to Newlat.
In December 2006 Parmalat had proposed as an alternative that it should sell the whole of Newlat by 30 October 2007. The Authority deemed that that measure would guarantee a significant level of competition in the market for fresh milk in Campania and Latium.
Rome, 5 June 2008