CMA fines Ping £1.45m for online sales

ban on golf clubs

 

NEWS RELEASE

Golf club manufacturer Ping Europe Limited (Ping) has been fined £1.45 million for banning UK retailers from selling its golf clubs online.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has found that Ping broke competition law by preventing 2 UK retailers from selling its golf clubs on their websites. Ping is required to bring the online sales ban to an end, and must not impose the same or equivalent terms on other retailers.

Whilst Ping must allow retailers to sell online it may require them to meet certain conditions before doing so. These conditions must, though, be compatible with competition law.

The CMA found that, while Ping was pursuing a genuine commercial aim of promoting in-store custom fitting, it could have achieved this through less restrictive means.

Ann Pope, Senior Director for Antitrust enforcement, said:

The internet is an increasingly important distribution channel and retailers’ ability to sell online, and reach as wide a customer base as possible, should not be unduly restricted.

The fine the CMA has today imposed on Ping should act as a warning to companies that preventing its products from being sold online could be illegal.

The level of the fine imposed on Ping reflects that the CMA found the breach of competition law occurred in the context of a genuine commercial aim of promoting in-store custom fitting.

Note

1. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law. For CMA updates, see our homepage or follow us on Twitter @CMAgovuk, Facebook, Flickr and LinkedIn. Sign up to our email alerts to receive updates on Competition Act 1998 and civil cartels cases.