The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken legal action by requesting a federal court to compel Total Wine & More to cooperate with an ongoing antitrust investigation concerning Dallas-based Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.
Southern Glazer’s, recognized as the largest distributor of wine and spirits in the United States, is currently under scrutiny for potential discriminatory practices in its dealings with retailers like Total Wine. These practices are being investigated for potential violations of the Robinson-Patman Act.
Furthermore, the FTC is exploring whether Southern Glazer’s engaged in unfair competitive methods under the FTC Act. The formal filing for this action took place late last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, with the aim of enforcing compliance by Total Wine in response to an administrative subpoena’s request for documents and information.
The FTC’s specific objective is to obtain documents and information from Total Wine. This is being done to ascertain whether Southern Glazer’s has been granting preferential pricing and services to specific large retail chains, such as Total Wine, while withholding the same from smaller, independent retailers.
The FTC’s staff made efforts for several months to collaborate with Total Wine on this matter. However, the filing notes that Total Wine independently restricted the scope of the FTC’s request and declined to search employees’ files for the requested documents.
Source: Dallas News
Featured News
Judge Allows FTC Antitrust Case Against Amazon to Move Forward
Oct 1, 2024 by
CPI
SAP Leader Urges Caution on EU AI Rules, Warns of Competitive Disadvantage
Oct 1, 2024 by
CPI
Colorado’s Grocery Workers Unite to Oppose $24.6 Billion Supermarket Merge
Oct 1, 2024 by
CPI
Canada’s Competition Bureau Warns Businesses of Tougher Enforcement
Oct 1, 2024 by
CPI
Top Antitrust Lawyers Launch New Boutique Firm
Oct 1, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Refusal to Deal
Sep 27, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust’s Refusal-to-Deal Doctrine: The Emperor Has No Clothes
Sep 27, 2024 by
Erik Hovenkamp
Why All Antitrust Claims are Refusal to Deal Claims and What that Means for Policy
Sep 27, 2024 by
Ramsi Woodcock
The Aspen Misadventure
Sep 27, 2024 by
Roger Blair & Holly P. Stidham
Refusal to Deal in Antitrust Law: Evolving Jurisprudence and Business Justifications in the Align Technology Case
Sep 27, 2024 by
Timothy Hsieh