Danish Competition Appeals Tribunal upholds finding of dominance on the market for distribution of unaddressed mail
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On the 27th April 2021, the Danish Competition Appeals Tribunal (“DCAT”) upheld a June 2020 decision by the Danish Competition Council (“DCC”). The DCC concluded that FK Distribution (FK), as the biggest distributor of unaddressed mail (print circulars) in Denmark, had abused its dominant position by tying its sale of print circulars with its sale of viewing of circulars on several of its digital platforms.
The DCC had previously found that FK’s conduct constituted an abuse of dominance as FK had restricted competition by tying its sale of distribution of print circulars with its sale of viewing such material on FK’s own digital platform.
FK used to be the sole nationwide distributor of print circulars and subsequently enjoyed a market share of at least 85 per cent. Accordingly, the DCAT concluded that FK (as a dominant player) had failed to observe its special responsibility not to restrict competition. Instead, FK used its market power on the market for distribution of unaddressed mail to achieve a competitive advantage on the emerging market for digital platforms for circulars in Denmark. Consequently, the DCAT found that the contractual tying restricted competition by providing FK with a significant certainty that the circulars of several customers were also shown on their own digital platform.
In June 2020, the DCC decided to report the case to the State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime for criminal prosecution.
For further information, please refer to the decision by the DCAT in Danish here.
For more information please contact Morten Nissen or Frederik Haugsted.
