Because of illegal area agreements in the Bonn area, the Federal Cartel Office has imposed a fine of 16 million euros against the DuMont Media Group.
The punishment goes back to an incident in 2000: At that time DuMont, to which the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" belongs, and the group Bonner General-Anzeiger distribution areas in the Bonn area largely divided among themselves to avoid competition, the authority said ,
The Antitrust Office was deliberately concealed crucial information. Antitrust President Andreas Mundt said that the prohibited agreements were agreed with a notary in Switzerland. In 2017, the Bonner General-Anzeiger group informed the authorities about the case and therefore remains unpunished as a key witness. The fines mainly affect the DuMont media group.
The fines are not yet final. The victims would have admitted the allegations and the proceedings had been terminated by mutual agreement, said the Cartel Office. "It was in the interests of the company to completely clarify this situation from the past," wrote the board of the DuMont Media Group to its employees. The management would not have known the events. The group Bonner General-Anzeiger did not comment on demand at first.