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Coloplast Danmark A/S commits to temporarily changing pricing behavior when selling ostomy products to Danish municipalities
On June 28 2023, the Danish Competition Council (DCC) adopted a decision concerning Coloplast Danmark A/S (Coloplast Danmark). In its decision, the DCC assesses that Coloplast Danmark may have abused a dominant position through a possible margin squeeze. The DCC concludes that interim measures would be warranted to avoid serious harm to competition. Finally, the DCC concludes that the commitments offered by Coloplast Danmark are suitable to temporarily address the competition concerns identified by the DCC.
Coloplast Danmark markets and sells medical devices such as ostomy products and catheters in Denmark and Iceland. Since 2019, Coloplast Danmark started participating directly in municipal tenders whereas they had previously only sold to wholesalers and hospitals. In order to participate in municipal tenders, Coloplast Danmark entered into bidding consortiums with the wholesaler Abena.
It is the preliminary assessment of the DCC that Coloplast Danmark’s pricing behavior from 2020 to 2022 has led to a margin squeeze for the competing wholesalers. Given that a large share of the municipal contracts is set to be re-tendered in the upcoming months, the conduct of Coloplast Danmark could cause significant harm to the competition in the municipal market if allowed to continue.
In order to address the competition concerns of the DCC, Coloplast Danmark has offered temporary commitments. In brief, Coloplast Danmark commits to either not bidding in municipal tenders or bidding with prices that allows for a positive margin for competing wholesalers when compared to the price offered to them.
The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority will continue investigating the case in order to make a final decision.
For further information, please contact Head of Communications, Hanne Arentoft, phone +45 41 71 50 98.