MEXICO: Coke fined by competition authority
Coca-Cola’s Mexican subsidiary and some of its bottlers have been fined US$15m after failing to convince Mexico’s competition watchdogs that it had not broken trade laws.
The Federal Competition Commission upheld a fine imposed on Coke and its bottlers for allegedly pressurising small shops into refusing to stock other brands of cola.
The Commission received a complaint from Raquel Chavez in 2003. She accused a Coca-Cola distributor of refusing to sell to her small shop because she had started stocking the rival brand Big Cola.
Big Cola, a Peruvian-based supplier of cheap-end colas, joined the action against Coca-Cola. The company believed it was the prime target of the alleged anti-competitive practice.
More: just-drinks.com
Mexican Coke firms fined for strong-arm tactics
Mexico's competition watchdog upheld on Thursday fines totaling almost $15 million against 15 Coca-Cola (KO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) bottlers and distributors for forcing shops to sell only their soft drinks.
The distributors, many owned by Mexico-based Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (KOFL.MX: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's No. 2 Coke bottler, as well as the Coca-Cola Export Corp., owned by Coca-Cola Co. (KO.N: Quote, Profile, Research), were fined about $1 million each for insisting that stores in Mexico only sell Coke brand products and not competitors' drinks.
The Federal Competition Commission said the
Pepsi's antitrust complaint brings $54 million levy
Mexico's antitrust commission has hit Coca-Cola and its bottlers with a $54 million fine in response to 5-year-old complaints by rival Pepsico that it used exclusive deals with stores to shut out competitors.
If it sticks, the fine would be one of the largest ever levied against the Coke system for anti-competitive violations.
Coke said it plans to appeal. If the company loses, it will be responsible for about $1 million of the fine. Six bottlers are responsible for the rest, and each would decide on its own whether to appeal, said Coke spokesman Ben Deutsch.
Pepsi's
Fines against Coca-Cola in Mexico upheld
Mexico's federal competition commission has upheld a $15 million fine against Coca-Cola's Mexican subsidiary for anti-competitive practices.
The commission began investigating the company when a complaint was made in 2003 by Raquel Chavez, a Mexican shopkeeper. Ms Chavez claimed that her Coca-Cola supplier refused to sell to her shop when she began to stock a rival brand, Big Cola. The complaint led to the commission finding other similar incidents.
The fines have been imposed on 15 of the distributors and bottlers of Coca-Cola in the region and will be a victory for Ajegroup, the maker
FIFA Slaps Mexico Football with Heavy Fines for Doping
Football's (soccer's) world governing body FIFA has fined the Mexican football federation after two of its players were expelled from last month's Confederations Cup in Germany following positive doping tests.
In a statement Wednesday, FIFA said it fined the Mexican Federation more than $583,000 after Aaron Galindo and Salvador Carmona tested positive for the steroid nandrolone.
The Mexican Federation tested the players before the tournament, which began on June 15. However, the men were not expelled until June 22, after they played in Mexico's 2-1 victory over Japan and 1-0 win over
In Mexico, Taking Fizz Out of the Cola Giants
The founders of the upstart cola maker Ajegroup know a thing or two about guerrilla marketing.
When Shining Path rebels took to hijacking Coca-Cola Co. trucks in the late 1980s during Peru's civil war, the Ananos family started peddling its own line of soft drinks in recycled beer bottles to meet local demand. Today the company controls more than one-fifth of the cola market in Peru.
Ajegroup is still taking potshots at Coke, but the battle has shifted north to Mexico, where the Peruvians are once again making gains through unorthodox methods. In a
Mexico's air competition taking off
Mexico's domestic airfares, often more expensive than international flights, may plunge as much as 50 percent after new discount carriers begin flying and the government sells two airlines to private investors.
Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Emilio Azcarraga unveiled plans last week for a low-fare domestic startup, bringing to four the number of such airlines the Transportation Ministry says will offer service by early next year. The government also completed its bidding process for the nation's two state airlines, Aeromexico and Mexicana.
"Our main objective is to make air travel affordable for the portion of the population that
Mexico defeated Jamaica 1-0 and South Africa held out Guatemala 1-1 on Wednesday to close out Group C play of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition.
Mexico finished first in Group C with six points, ahead of South Africa on five and Jamaica on four. Guatemala is now eliminated from the competition after coming last with one point.
In the quarterfinals, Jamaica will play the United States on Saturday, while Mexico faces Colombia and South Africa takes on Panama on Sunday.
More: hindu.com
Front-runner in Mexico's presidential race suddenly has competition
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a fiery leftist who captured the hearts of Mexico's poor and disenfranchised, has been the man to beat in the early race for Mexico's president.
But three out of four polls released in the past two weeks show his two main competitors _ Roberto Madrazo of the Institutional Revolutionary Party and Felipe Calderon of President Vicente Fox's National Action Party _ catching up.
There are still more than seven months to go before the vote on July 2. But the recent polls _ two of which showed the three candidates
Mexico's Femsa 4th-qtr net profit falls 14 pct
Mexico's Femsa, Latin America' largest beverage company, posted a 14 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit due to the absence of tax benefits it enjoyed a year earlier.
Femsa, which runs the world's No. 2 Coke bottler and also brews Tecate and Sol beers, said on Monday its net for the October-December period was 1.661 billion pesos ($156 million) down from 1.929 billion pesos a year before.
Femsa's shares (FEMSAUBD.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 1.08 percent on Friday to 87.13 pesos. Its American Depositary Receipts (FMX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) moved up 1.32 percent to $83.16.
Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- A partnership of Bombardier Inc., Siemens AG and Grupo Garza Ponce SA won a $244 million contract to equip an expanded Monterrey, Mexico, light rail mass transit system.
Bombardier, the world's biggest maker of railway equipment, valued its share at about $43 million in a statement distributed by Business Wire today. Bombardier said it will provide 14 light rail vehicles to the Monterrey Mass Transit Authority, Metrorrey, with deliveries expected in the second half of 2007.
The Monterrey transit system, Mexico's second-largest, is being lengthened by 8.7 kilometers, including 1.5 kilometers underground, Bombardier said.
Source: Bloomberg.com
