DKK 1 million fine in action for resale price maintenance on hair products

By assistant attorney Andreas Riis Madsen

Hair product wholesaler ICON Hairspa A/S has been fined DKK 1 million by the Court in Næstved for resale price maintenance, prohibited under the rules of the Danish Competition Act. For a period of one year from 1 March 2016, ICON Hairspa A/S required distributors of Kevin Murphy hair products to maintain a set of fixed resale prices. In addition to the fine imposed on ICON Hairspa A/S, a senior employee of the company has personally been fined DKK 100,000.

The case in brief

The case began in 2016 when the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority was contacted by a distributor. The Danish Competition Council chose to report the matter to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime, which undertook an investigation. The evidence produced in court included ICON Hairspa A/S’s guidelines for the sale of Kevin Murphy hair products, text correspondence, video surveillance footage, and testimonies by witnesses.

The Court in Næstved underlines that it is not, in case law, a requirement that a given case of resale price maintenance did in fact affect the market, the matter being a so-called “restriction by object”.

The sizes of the fines were based on the severity and duration of the violation and on ICON Hairspa A/S’s revenue.