By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -EU antitrust regulators on Thursday opened an investigation into Austrian energy drinks maker Red Bull, saying that it may be restricting competition, in particular the energy drinks sold by its closest rival.
The European Commission investigation follows a series of dawn raids into the company in 2023 and after allegations of anti-competitive tactics from its U.S. rival Monster Energy.
The EU antitrust enforcer said it has indications that Red Bull, well known for its 250 ml energy drink, may have developed a Europe-wide strategy to restrict competition from energy drinks larger than 250 ml sold in supermarkets and petrol station shops.
It said the strategy, implemented in the Netherlands where it has market power, allegedly targeted energy drinks sold by its closest rival, but did not name the company.
“We want to see if these practices may be keeping prices high and limiting choice of energy drinks for consumers,” EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said in a statement.
Red Bull declined to comment.
The Commission said the alleged anti-competitive practices include granting monetary and non-monetary incentives to supermarkets and petrol station shops to stop selling rival drinks larger than 250 ml and the misuse of its market power as a category manager.
Breaches of EU antitrust rules can cost companies fines of as much as 10% of their global annual sales.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
