SABMiller in trouble over wholesale prices

SABMiller, the world’s number two brewer, has come under fire from South Africa’s Competition Commission for discriminatory wholesale prices.

The case being heard by the country’s Competition Tribunal is the result of an investigation between 2004 and 2007 after a complaint by a wholesaler who said that South African Breweries (SAB), the local unit of SABMiller, charged him the same price it charged retailers, preventing him from “earning a fair margin” on his sales to retailers. The Competition Commission’s investigations resulted in allegations of resale price maintenance, price discrimination and an abuse of power.

The antitrust authority wants discounts offered to SAB’s own distributors extended to all distributors, media reported on 24 July 2013. Extending discounts to independent distributors might cost the company 729 million rand (USD 75 million).

SAB announced that it will continue to contest the allegations by South Africa’s Competition Commission. “We remain confident that none of our practices are in breach of the law and that we have not engaged in any anti-competitive behaviour,” Yolanda Cuba, SAB strategy director, was quoted as saying.