Bonn, 13 May 2025 — Germany’s competition watchdog, the Bundeskartellamt, has fined seven road repair companies a total of €10.5 million for illegal bid rigging and market sharing in public tenders across several federal states.
The companies — AS Asphaltstraßensanierung GmbH, Bausion Strassenbau-Produkte GmbH, Bitunova GmbH, Gerhard Herbers GmbH, Liesen … alles für den Bau GmbH, Mainka Straßenunterhaltung, and MOT Müritzer Oberflächentechnik GmbH — were found to have colluded over several years to divide up public contracts and manipulate bidding processes.
“Over a longer period of time, the companies assigned numerous public contracts for road repairs and renovations to one another,” said Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt. “Illegal agreements like these can significantly damage public contracting authorities — costs that are ultimately borne by all citizens.”
According to the authority, the collusion involved carefully coordinated tender submissions, including the use of protective bids with pre-agreed minimum prices to ensure a predetermined company won the contract. These arrangements targeted contracts for road maintenance and the supply of bitumen products, typically valued between €40,000 and €200,000.
Coordinated Collusion Across Federal States
Between 2018 and 2019, four of the companies — AS, Bausion, Herbers, and Bitunova — carved up the market in Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony-Anhalt. They assigned districts on a map and agreed who would bid where, often using coded language and presenting their contacts as consortium or subcontracting requests to avoid detection.
In a separate arrangement from 2016 to 2019, Bausion, Liesen, Mainka, and MOT colluded on public tenders in Brandenburg and, during 2016–2017, in Saxony-Anhalt. Liesen and MOT also rigged bids in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. These companies reportedly met regularly — including breakfast meetings at a hotel near Berlin — to discuss upcoming tenders, designate winners, and coordinate protective pricing.
Criminal and Administrative Investigations
The misconduct came to light following a dawn raid in September 2019, conducted jointly by the Bundeskartellamt, the Düsseldorf Public Prosecution Office, and the Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia. While the Bundeskartellamt has jurisdiction over corporate fines, criminal charges against individuals involved fall under the remit of public prosecutors. Bid rigging is a criminal offence in Germany under Section 298 of the Criminal Code.
Bitunova GmbH received leniency for its cooperation during the investigation. All companies accepted settlements, and the decisions are now final.
A case summary will be published on the Bundeskartellamt’s website in accordance with Section 53(5) of the German Competition Act.
