Large-scale distribution and collusion: The return of buying
alliances
On 4 November 2019, the European Commission announced that it
had opened an investigation into two major French supermarket
groups, Casino and Intermarché, in order to assess whether
they had illegally used a joint venture set up in 2014 for the
joint procurement of their branded products.
At national level, the most relevant case concerning purchasing
organizations dates back to 2014, when the Italian Competition
Authority (ICA) – considering the results of the sector
inquiry involving the large-scale distribution industry –
opened an investigation against the central purchasing organization
Centrale Italiana and the retailers that formed part of it. The ICA
ultimately closed with the acceptance of the commitments proposed
by the parties (providing for the dissolution of Centrale
Italiana). The in-depth investigation carried out at EU level will
probably give further input to National
