The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the European Commission (EC) have launched coordinated investigations into suspected anti-competitive practices in the supply of chemicals to the construction industry.
Research concerns chemical additives and additives for concrete, mortar and cement. Two companies have so far confirmed they are cooperating with investigators.
The CMA said it suspects anti-competitive behavior may have taken place with unspecified “industry bodies” and companies supplying chemicals to the construction industry.
The UK watchdog’s investigation is being coordinated with a simultaneous investigation by the EC, which said it had carried out unannounced antitrust inspections of “companies active in the construction chemicals sector in a number of member states”.
The EC said it was concerned that the inspected companies “may have breached EU antitrust rules prohibiting cartels and restrictive business practices”.
An initial investigation by the CMA, which includes gathering information, analyzing and reviewing the information gathered, will last until July 2024. The competition watchdog may then issue a statement of ‘objections if it decides that competition law has been infringed.
The French company Saint-Gobain and the Swiss firm Sika have confirmed that they are cooperating with the inspections. Switzerland is not an EU member state, but the two sides signed an agreement in 2014 to cooperate on competition matters.
In a statement, Saint-Gobain said it was “aware of and cooperating with” competition law investigations in the EU, UK and Turkey.
The company confirmed that the inspections had taken place at its construction chemicals business unit in Turkey. It said this unit “is and has always been fully committed to compliance with competition law and is cooperating with investigations”.
Sika confirmed it CN this inspections had been carried out on “suspected antitrust irregularities in the area of additives for concrete and cement”, adding: “The fair functioning of markets is fundamental to Sika and we support this investigation with all our efforts and cooperate fully with the authorities.“
The CMA stated that “at this stage no hypothesis should be made as to whether the competition law has been breached“. In the same way, the EC has stressed that its inspections “do not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behavior or prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself”.
The EC said its inspections on October 17 “were carried out in coordination with the UK CMA and the Turkish Competition Authority”, adding that it had also been in contact with the Antitrust Division of US Department of Justice.
The CMA said it was “working closely” with the EC and was also in contact with other authorities, including those in the US.
In 2021, the CMA raised concerns about Sika’s planned purchase of German chemical supplier MBCC, given that the companies were the UK’s two largest suppliers of chemical additives.
As a condition of approval of the merger, Sika sold MBCC’s chemical additives business in the UK, Europe and several other countries, and the merger went ahead in May this year.
