French Group Fines Detergent Makers for Price Fixing

Unilever, Henkel, Colgate Palmolive Co. and Procter & Gamble Co.agreed to coordinate their commercial strategy on all their products during the seven-year period, albeit with an interruption between October 1998 and November 1999, according to a statement from the Autorité de la concurrence released today.

All product categories of the major laundry detergent brands which are available in France—like Ariel, Skip, Le Chat, Dash, Omo, Super Croix, Gama, Persil and X Tra—fell within the scope of the cartel agreement, which lasted between 1997 and 2004, with an interruption between October 1998 and November 1999, the group said. All the product formats (powder, liquid and tablets) were included in the agreement.

The watchdog group levied different fine amounts: P&G was fined€233.6 million, Henkel was fined€92.3 million and Colgate Palmolive was fined€35.4 million.