PRESS RELEASE

SUPPLY OF OXYGEN FOR HOME HEALTH CARE: INVESTIGATION BY THE ANTITRUST AUTHORITY ON FOURTEEN COMPANIES

The Antitrust Authority has launched an investigation against fourteen companies that provide home health care services in respect of oxygen therapy and ventilation therapy to patients with severe respiratory failure, to ascertain the existence of any possible anti-competitive agreements. These companies include Linde Medicale, Medicair Italia, Medicair Sud, Medigas Italia, Magaldi Life, Sapio Life, Eubios, OXY Live, Ossigas, Respiraire, SICO - Società Italiana Carburo Ossigeno, Vivisol, Vivisol Napoli and Vitalaire Italia.

The investigation is meant to establish whether the companies, on the occasion of various tender competitions issued by or on behalf of ASL for the award of these home services, coordinated their respective strategies to carve up the market and increase the costs borne by the contracting authority: either by submitting joint offers or by jointly refraining from tendering and competitive bids. In order to ascertain the circumstances, officials of the Antitrust Authority with the help of the special Antitrust Unit and of the Unit for Fraud Technology of the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) yesterday and today performed a series of inspections in the offices of the companies concerned.

If the allegations were confirmed, they would reveal a shift in the market dynamics among the largest firms in the market for the provision of oxygen therapy and ventilation therapy in some areas within the national territory, without being able to exclude that it covers a wider geographical area. This action might be the result of a horizontal agreement, in the form of an agreement or of a concerted practice, to avoid a proper competitive competition between the various operators.

Rome, 14 October 2015