04.12.11
For months, detergent makers in the U.S. have been stuck in a deflationary vortex, as pressure from retailers forced them to lower prices and lower them again. That pressure, however, was not so evident in Europe where today, Unilever and Procter & Gamble agreed to pay fines to end a European Union investigation into allegations the companies colluded on the price of detergents, two people familiar with the decision said.
According to Bloomberg News, the settlement and fines could be announced by the European Commission as soon as tomorrow, said the people, who declined to be identified because the decision isn’t public. Henkel KGaA, the German maker of Persil detergent, may escape fines because it was the first company to supply evidence to regulators, the people said.
Unilever and Henkel said in June 2008 they were among detergent makers raided by EU officials. The settlement would be the third between companies and the European Commission, following deals last year that ended EU probes into producers of D-RAM memory chips and animal feed phosphates.
Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s competition chief, said last week that settlements were a “win-win situation” because they cut companies’ fines and reduced enforcement costs and freed up resources for regulators.
Eleanor Bowden, a spokeswoman for Unilever, and Wulf Klueppelhoz, a spokesman for Henkel, declined to comment. Paul Fox, a spokesman for P&G in Cincinnati, didn’t immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment before business hours.
Amelia Torres, a spokeswoman for the European Commission in Brussels, declined to comment on any decision.
Antitrust agencies across Europe have been investigating cosmetics and detergent manufacturers for agreements to fix or increase prices. Last year, Italy fined Unilever, P&G and 13 other companies for coordinating price increases for cosmetics. It didn’t fine Henkel because it was the first to inform regulators of the cartel. German units of Unilever, Henkel and Sara Lee were fined about 37 million euros ($54 million) by the country’s cartel office in February 2008 for fixing toothpaste and detergent prices.