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Division (6) The Commission withheld the following infringement: on 12 February 1996, Heineken NV and Heineken France SA announced their intention to acquire the groups Fischer and Saint Arnould to Groupe Danone and Brasseries Kronenbourg SA. Since the groups Fischer and Saint Arnould distributed an important volume of Kronenbourg beer, this triggered a genuine acquisition war. Each brewery group thus acquired a large number of drinks wholesalers, leading to a strong inflation of the acquisition price of such wholesalers. On 21 March 1996, Brasseries Kronenbourg SA, Heineken France SA and their respective mother companies, Groupe Danone and Heineken NV, therefore concluded an ‘armistice’ agreement regarding the acquisition of wholesalers and the balancing of their integrated distribution networks. In particular, they agreed on:

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  • a temporary acquisition stop (prohibition to proceed with acquisitions of wholesalers outside an agreed list),

  • the balancing of the total volume of beer distributed through the network of each party, and

  • the balancing of the volume of beer brands commercialised by each party which should be distributed by the other party.