(Update: context, stock market reaction)
PARIS (Agefi-Dow Jones)–Electrical infrastructure specialists Schneider Electric and Legrand, as well as their distributor Rexel, announced on Tuesday evening that they had received a statement of objections from the Competition Authority on Monday relating to an agreement on selling prices on the French market.
Schneider Electric “strongly contests the allegations in the statement of objections” and “will submit its response to the Competition Authority in due course”, the group said in a press release.
Legrand “confirms its commitment to strict compliance with the legislation in force” and “intends to fully exercise its rights within the framework of the adversarial procedure which opens”, said the manufacturer of electrical equipment in a separate press release.
For its part, Rexel specified that “the notification of grievances[ait] specifically the mechanism of derogations, which is a price reduction aimed at offering customers the most competitive offer “. According to the distributor, the mechanism of derogations,” transparent and known to all market players, is a usual practice in The world of the professional distribution of electrical equipment “. Faced with these accusations, Rexel has constantly ensured” constantly complying with the laws and regulations in force “.
Like Schneider Electric and Legrand, Rexel intends to “assert its position and its rights within the framework of this procedure”.
“This notification of grievances constitutes the first step in an adversarial procedure and in no way prejudges the final decision which will be pronounced independently by the College of the Competition Authority”, added Schneider Electric in its press release.
The notification from the Competition Authority comes at a time of judicial investigation since 2018 into a vast system of alleged illicit price fixing intended to limit competition in the electrical equipment distribution sector. The companies targeted are Schneider Electric, Legrand, Rexel and Sonepar. “The procedure launched by the Competition Authority is the logical continuation of the searches carried out in September 2018 at these four companies”, comments a source familiar with the matter.
At the start of trading on Wednesday, Schneider Electric, Rexel and Legrand shares rose 2%, 0.3% and 0.3% respectively, in a Paris market up 1.4%.
-Dimitri Delmond, Agefi-Dow Jones; +33 (0)1 41 27 47 31; [email protected] ed: VLV
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July 06, 2022 03:13 ET (07:13 GMT)