Companies fined £132m over deal to fix prices of cigarettes
ASDA and Somerfield were fined yesterday for illegally fixing cigarette prices.
They were among six retailers and tobacco firms that agreed to pay combined penalties of £132.3 million.
The companies, which also included First Quench, Gallaher, One Stop Stores and TM Retail, applied to the Office of Fair Trading for leniency.
The OFT accused the groups of anti-competitive pricing in April, alleging they agreed to link the price of some brands to rival products.
It is still investigating six other firms – Tesco, Morrisons, Safeway, Shell, the Co-operative Group and Imperial Tobacco.
Sainsbury’s – which first came forward for leniency from the OFT – will not face any fine if it continues to co-operate with the inquiry.
The six firms that have reached agreement with the OFT have received a discount from the potential maximum fine of £173.3 million.
The OFT has also separately alleged that some of those named arranged to swap information on future pricing.
OFT chief executive John Fingleton said: "The OFT is very pleased that the early co-operation of these parties has enabled the swift resolution of some of this case, which will significantly reduce the costs of pursuing the investigation for the OFT and the businesses concerned.
"This demonstrates the flexible approach the OFT is prepared to take to reduce the burden of investigations, while maintaining strong and effective competition law enforcement."
The OFT said in April that the companies involved struck deals that restricted the retailers’ ability to set selling prices independently between 2000 and 2003.

