TOP NEWS: JD Sports, Footasylum hit with fine after breaking CMA order

(Alliance News) - JD Sports PLC responded on Monday to a fine levied by the UK's competition ...

Alliance News 14 February, 2022 | 9:24AM
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(Alliance News) - JD Sports PLC responded on Monday to a fine levied by the UK's competition watchdog.

JD Sports and Footasylum have been fined nearly GBP4.7 million for collective breaches of an interim order issued by the UK's Competition & Markets Authority during an in-depth phase two merger investigation.

JD Sports purchased Footasylum back in March 2019 for GBP90.1 million, and has since been the subject of CMA investigations and orders related to the deal. In November last year, the CMA ordered JD Sports to sell the footwear seller to address concerns about competition and to protect consumers.

The CMA imposed the interim order in May 2021 to stop the companies from "further integration" and ensure they remained competitors while it probed the merger. The order required the CMA to be immediately notified if any information was exchanged.

The CMA said JD Sports and Footasylum had "severely deficient safeguards in place - so much so that they created an environment where information exchanges were almost inevitable". It alleges two meetings took place in July and August of 2021, where the two chief executive officers, Barry Brown and Peter Cowgill, exchanged commercially sensitive information - on topics such as contracts, planned store closures, stock issues and financial performance - and did not notify the CMA.

JD Sports responded to the CMA announcement, claiming any exchange of information was "limited" and "inadvertent" but conceded it was not reported to the CMA.

The sports retailer went on to dispute other conclusions that were drawn by the CMA, claiming they were "either incorrect or have been presented in a misleading manner through the use of inflammatory language".

In particular, it maintains it did not deliberately delete any phone records, but notes some phone records were "unavailable", and it had voluntarily submitted the relevant devices to a third party for expert forensic analysis.

The CMA has issued fines of GBP2.5 million to JD Sports and GBP200,000 to Footasylum for failing to have safeguards in place. For the sharing of confidential information and failure to notify the CMA, JD Sports will have to pay GBP1.8 million and Footasylum GBP180,000.

A further fine of GBP20,000 each has also been levied for obstructing the CMA's investigation by withholding information pertaining to the meetings.

Chair of the inquiry group investigating the merger Kip Meek said: "There is a black hole when it comes to the meetings held between Footasylum and JD Sports. Both CEOs cannot recall crucial details about these meetings. On top of this, neither CEO or JD Sports' General Counsel can provide any documentation around the meetings."

JD Sports responded: "JD has always acted honestly and in good faith in its efforts to comply with the order and in responding to enquiries from the CMA."

Shares in the sports clothing retailer were down 2.9% to 169.66 pence each in London on Monday morning.

By Elizabeth Winter; elizabethwinter@alliancenews.com

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
JD Sports Fashion PLC 159.70 GBX 3.50 -

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