competitionlaw

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently opened a phase II investigation into the proposed merger between two telecommunication tower operators (CaseC11987, EI Towers/Ray Way ). By the notified transaction EI Towers (EIT), wholly owned by the general TV broadcaster Mediaset, plans to buy Ray Way, controlled by the Italian public broadcaster Rai. The parties own networks to host television and radio transmission equipments. The ICA feared that post-merger EIT would have a dominant position in the market for the facilities for television and radio transmissions. With the implementation of the merger the only operator capable to exert a reliable competition pressure on EIT would exit the market. Indeed, the networks owned by the parties could not be replaced with the facilities owned by local competitors. In addition, taking into account that EIT is vertically integrated with the TV broadcaster Mediaset, the ICA also believed that the merger might restrain competition i

By a recent decision the Swiss Competition Authority (Comco) has found that three firms had cartelized the market for cleaning of road tunnels in the 2008-2013 period. The parties coordinated their conducts by exchaning sensitive information with regard to the competitive tender procedures organized by the regional contracting authorities to select the providers of the cleaning services. In this way the parties established in advance who among them would submit the winning bid for a given tendered out contract. Interestingly, all the parties invoked the leniency regime adopted with the Ordinance of 12 March 2004 ( Cartel Act Sanctions Ordinance , http://www.admin.ch/ch/e/rs/2/251.5.en.pdf ). ISS Kanal Service that was the first to blew the whistle was granted full immunity, while the other two cartelists, Franz Pfister and Maschinelle Reinigungs, which applied later for leniency, were granted substantial fine reduction to the effect that the total amount of fines levied on them

In the case I765, GareGestioni Fanghi in Lombardia e Piemonte , the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) found five firms operating in the market for the depuration of muds resulting from urban sewage to have put in practice a cartel. The parties agreed to coordinate their conducts with regard to a number of competitive tender procedures organised by local authorities in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont in the 2008-2013 period to select the supplier of depuration services. The bid-rigging agreement has been implemented in two ways. First, the parties sought to find a legally binding mechanism to make their coordination stronger, and namely a joint-venture or a consortium. Second, they exchanged data regarding their bidding for the tendered out contracts. Interestingly, one of the parties submitted as defensive arguments that it did not made joint bids with the others and that it withdrew from the talks about creating a consortium. The ICA, however, discarded these arguments.