Another judgment in “demolition cartel”: Company and individuals fined
The Court in Hillerød has ruled that demolition company CPM Nedrivning unlawfully coordinated tenders with a number of competitors during the period from 2011 to 2016, effectively impairing competition between the companies.
By senior intern Clement Hoff Munk
The case is one among several related actions, and the judgment follows a series of similar decisions, in which demolition companies have been fined for unlawful bid rigging through the exchange of pricing information.
In 2015 the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority carried out inspections at a number of demolition companies, the results of which led to charges of i.a. unlawful bid rigging in the period from May 2011 to October 2013.
The case in brief
In deciding the case, the Court in Hillerød attached importance to the facts that all offences had been wilfully perpetrated, and that CPM Nedrivning had obtained financial gain from the unlawful coordination. The Court also found that two senior employees had actively exchanged prices with competitors, which amounted to unlawful bid rigging in violation of the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements, see section 6 of the Danish Competition Act.
CPM Nedrivning was fined DKK 5 million, and the two senior employees were fined DKK 125,000 each. Presumably, the sizes of the fines reflect the fact that 10 of the 11 counts against CPM Nedrivning were brought for offences committed prior to 1 March 2013 when the fine level in Danish competition law saw a significant raise.
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