Intermarché assigned for "abusive commercial practices"

Several companies of the Intermarché distribution group are being sued before the Paris Commercial Court for "abusive commercial practices" vis-à-vis 93 of their suppliers, the Ministry of the Economy announced on Friday, which is asking for a sanction of 150 , 75 million euros.

This assignment concerns the group's "international centers", dedicated to purchasing, listing or services, such as Agecore and Intermarché Belgium, and results from an investigation carried out by the Directorate-General for Competition and Consumer Affairs. and the repression of fraud (DGCCRF) since 2018, it is specified in a press release.

International "agreements" imposed upstream of distribution in France

In this context, an "in-depth examination of numerous contracts and documents" was carried out, revealing that "since the creation of Agecore in 2016, Intermarché has imposed on numerous suppliers, by various means of pressure - stoppages of orders, delisting of brands, etc. - the prior conclusion of an international contract with Agecore, then with Intermarché Belgium, to be able to continue to distribute their products in the Intermarché network in France ".

"Under the terms of these international 'agreements', the two power plants charge these suppliers large amounts of money throughout the year in return for commercial cooperation services, such as targeted promotional or advertising operations," the statement said.

These agreements "disrupt the loyalty of commercial relations," says Bercy, who asks the commercial court "to pronounce a sanction of 150.75 million euros, commensurate with the seriousness of the practices denounced and corresponding to 1% of the turnover achieved by Intermarché in France ".

For the DGCCRF, "the suppliers are not asking for these low commercial impact services, which are also superimposed on those they already finance at national level for the same services".

It is therefore, according to her, "in reality rather a dressing for the payment which is therefore akin to a right of entry into negotiation without real economic compensation".

"Amounts improperly obtained"

Indeed "their costs greatly exceed the increase in turnover that they are supposed to bring", observes the Ministry of the Economy, pointing to "amounts unduly obtained" by Intermarché, "in violation of the French law governing commercial relations ".

At the end of August 2020, the Belgian purchasing center co-owned by E.Leclerc, Eurelec, was fined 6.34 million euros by the Repression of Fraud for Illicit Commercial Practices, after being assigned to the civil for 117.3 million euros.

In February, Carrefour, Système U and Intermarché were also sanctioned.