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Two fire companies admit cartel conduct

Johannesburg - Two of seven fire companies being prosecuted have admitted to having engaged in cartel conduct, the Competition Commission announced on Monday.

Fireco Gauteng and Afrion Property Services, which specialise in supplying, installing and maintaining fire control and protection systems in South Africa and the rest of Africa, have reached a settlement with the commission.

In their respective settlement agreements, Fireco Gauteng and Afrion have admitted that they engaged in price fixing, market division and collusive tendering in contravention of the Competition Act. Fireco Gauteng has agreed to pay an administrative penalty of R909 000, while Afrion has agreed to pay R327 000.

The two companies have also undertaken to assist the commission in prosecuting the rest of the companies, namely Belfa, Cross Fire, Fire Protection Systems, Fireco and Tshwane Fire Sprinklers.

According to the commission, they are part of several fire control and protection systems companies that were referred by the commission to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution in March this year.

The commission said its investigation found that from at least 1996 to 2015 the companies had fixed prices, divided markets and tendered collusively when bidding for tenders to install fire control and protection systems in new and existing buildings.

The fire companies concluded bilateral and multilateral collusive agreements which were implemented by exchanging cover quotes, sharing bills of quantities and exchanging prices through telephone, faxes, emails and occasional meetings.

The companies had also agreed to "respect" each other's allocated customers by not bidding competitively for tenders issued by those customers.

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