Carrefour breaks Indonesian antitrust law: watchdog

JAKARTA (AFP) --

An Indonesian watchdog ruled Tuesday that a subsidiary of French supermarket chain Carrefour was in breach of anti-monopoly rules and ordered it to sell its stake in local retailer Alfa Retailindo.

The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) ordered Carrefour Indonesia to sell its 75-percent stake in Alfa, which it acquired for 674 billion rupiah (70.9 million dollars) earlier this year.

It also fined Carrefour 25 billion rupiah for breaching Indonesia's competition rules.

"Carrefour has one year to sell its stake in Alfa Retailindo," KPPU commissioner Dedie Martadisastra, who presided at the court, said.

The commission found that Carrefour's share in the wholesale market stood at 67 percent as of June, up from 45 percent before the acquisition took place.

Its share in the retail market stood at 48 percent, up from 38 percent.

Carrefour Indonesia corporate affairs director Irawan Kadarman disputed the commission's findings.

"We think that our share in the market is far from dominant," he told AFP.

The ruling comes four days after a Taiwanese court rejected a Carrefour appeal against a fine for misleading advertisements.

The Supreme Administrative Court upheld the decision against Carrefour for claiming it checked its price lists daily and immediately lowered the price of items found to be more expensive than competing stores, a court official said.

Despite the claim, made on Carrefour's website and in its catalogues, four of its outlets failed to charge the lowest prices.

-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story --


Copyright © 2009 AFP All Rights Reserved

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Published: Tuesday 03rd of November 2009 02:00:17 PM
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