EU hits Pierre Cardin and licensee with $6 mln antitrust fine

Ahlers AG

28/11/2024 10:45

BRUSSELS, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The EU Commission on
Thursday said it had handed a total fine of 5.7 million euros
($6 million) to French fashion house Pierre Cardin and German
clothing maker Ahlers for breaching EU antitrust rules.
    The commission said the companies between 2008 and 2011 had
anticompetitive agreements to shield Ahlers from competition in
European countries where it held a Pierre Cardin license.
    The move by the European Commission, which acts as the EU
competition enforcer, followed dawn raids on Pierre Cardin in
2021 and charges imposed against the company last year.
    "These illegal practices prevent retailers from being able
to freely source products in member states with lower prices and
artificially partition the internal market," the commission
said.
    Pierre Cardin was fined for 2.2 million euros, while Ahlers
has to pay 3.5 million euros.
    The fine confirmed an earlier report by Reuters.
    ($1 = 0.9488 euros)

 (Reporting by Bart Meijer;
Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
 ((Bart.Meijer@thomsonreuters.com;))