Danish beer giant Carlsberg has agreed to a €50 million settlement with German authorities over its alleged involvement in price fixing.

Tanja Frederiksen, head of communications for the brewer, confirmed that it had settled the case “which had been ongoing for 11 years and required an enormous amount of time and financial resources.”

The German Federal Cartel Office in early 2014 handed out €388 million worth of fines to a range of breweries, industry associations and senior managers over collusion in the country’s beer market.

While a number of parties settled with the Cartel Office and paid their fines, Carlsberg, which continues to refute the allegations, objected to the fine with the case going to court in 2018.

The 4th Cartel Senate of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court decided to end proceedings in April 2019 due to the statute of limitations, but the country's Federal Court of Justice subsequently overturned this decision in July 2020.
With the case rumbling on over the three years, the beermaker has now agreed to pay a €50 million fine in an effort to put the saga behind itself and focus on its core business.

Frederiksen added: "We still strongly disagree with the charges and maintain our innocence, but we have taken this decision in order to be able to fully focus again on the future of Carlsberg Deutschland Holding GmbH.”

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