UK: Toymaker Hasbro fined for price fixing

A News item from Business Respect, Issue Number 44, dated 30 Nov 2002

Hasbro Inc has been fined a record $7.7m by the UK's Office of Fair Trading for preventing distributors from selling its toys and games below prices fixed by the company.

Among the well-known toys and games affected were Action Man, Monopoly, Pictionary, Twister and merchandise from the “Star Wars” films.
The illegal agreements were in place from early 2001 to July of that year, the OFT said.

The office did not fine the distributors because it said they had no choice but to accept Hasbro’s terms.

The company said it would appeal against the scale of the fine. Hasbor CEO and chairman Alan Hassenfeld said “We are surprised and disappointed at the level of the fine imposed by the OFT, which we believe to be disproportionate."

“The activities cited by the OFT occurred over a very short period of time and through a limited number of wholesale distributors. Hasbro believes that such activities had no significant effect on competitiveness within its small network of distributors or on consumers.”

Article source: AP / Telegraph

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