PRESS RELEASE

ICA’S INVESTIGATION INTO POSTE ITALIANE FOR ALLEGED ABUSIVE CONDUCTS AGAINST LARGE BUSINESS USERS

The Italian Competition Authority opened an investigation into Poste Italiane so as to verify whether the latter carried out abusive conducts aimed at excluding the competing company Nexive SpA from the postal sector in favour of other large business users (Posta Massiva and Posta Time). The proceedings were notified today. The ICA carried out an inspection at Poste Italiane’s premises as well as at the premises of several of the company’s main customers, with the help of the ICA’s Special Unit of the Guardia di Finanza.

The investigation was launched following several complaints filed by Nexive, a company operating in the postal services sector. The aim is to verify whether or not Poste Italiane carried out several abusive conducts. In fact, the latter allegedly denied competitors the use of the service Posta Time, while offering the sole service Posta Massiva at much higher prices than Posta Time. Moreover, it allegedly applied selective and retaining discounts on Posta Time’s price list to final customers and a “variable” territorial coverage of the mentioned service.

Therefore, Poste Italiane allegedly offers more advantageous economic conditions to some of its customers than to its competitors for deliveries in zones covered only by its network. The mentioned conducts could constitute an abuse of dominant position with excluding characteristics. In fact, not only competitors’ margin is compressed, but it is actually negative, thus preventing Poste Italiane’s offers to be replicable by competitors.

The investigation will be concluded within 31 October 2017.

Rome, 8 June 2016