VIENNA, March 31, 2026 — Austria’s Austrian Federal Competition Authority has asked the Cartel Court to impose a €1.15 million fine on Tönnies Unternehmensbeteiligungen GmbH for implementing a notifiable merger before receiving regulatory approval.
The authority filed the request on March 25, alleging that the company carried out a prohibited implementation of a transaction involving the acquisition of a 49% stake in Ritzenhoff AG.
Although the deal was ultimately cleared by the BWB on May 15, 2024 after being notified retrospectively, the authority said the merger had already been implemented prior to approval. The transaction concerns activities in the manufacture, decoration and sale of glass and ceramic products.
According to the regulator, the company self-reported the infringement, cooperated with the investigation and acknowledged the violation as part of efforts to reach an amicable resolution of the proceedings.
Under Austrian competition law, companies must obtain approval from the competition authority before completing transactions that meet merger notification thresholds. Implementing a merger before clearance—commonly referred to as “gun-jumping”—is prohibited because it prevents authorities from assessing potential competitive effects before the deal takes effect.
If the infringement is confirmed, the Cartel Court may impose fines of up to 10% of the company’s global turnover in the previous financial year. The amount of the fine is determined based on factors including the seriousness and duration of the infringement, the degree of fault, the company’s economic capacity and its level of cooperation with the authority.
