In line with the regional focus of its activities, ABO was directly involved in illegal price fixing and price coordination, market divisions and the exchange of information with competitors in relation to public and private construction tenders in the province of Lower Austria and, in individual cases, in Burgenland.
ABO is only one of the companies to have been involved in this direct infringement of cartel law that has occurred across the whole of Austria, with each of these companies having been involved to varying degrees. The large number of arranged construction contracts cover both civil and structural engineering projects throughout Austria, with road building projects predominating. The collusive behaviour was aimed at reducing or excluding competition, with the companies helping each other to win contracts and thus secure market shares. The AFCA has now applied to the Cartel Court to find that ABO committed an infringement owing to the company’s involvement.
Liquidation
ABO is currently in liquidation and is likely to lose its legal personality and capacity to be a party to legal proceedings. According to ABO itself, there will be no universal legal succession. Its two parent companies (PORR AG and STRABAG SE) have already been fined or are currently awaiting the outcome of a pending lawsuit.
ABO cooperated with the AFCA outside the leniency programme to fully clarify the facts of the case, acknowledging the infringement for use in proceedings before the Cartel Court.
Background
The uncovered cartel relates to the economic sector of construction, with a focus on road building projects.
The infringement covers the entire Austrian territory, albeit to varying degrees depending on the company involved. Both public and private clients were affected. A large number of construction projects were impacted, which is why the AFCA’s investigations are still ongoing, while some of the proceedings have been finally concluded (see FAQ).
The companies involved in the infringement engaged in concerted action in order to help each other to win construction contracts, thereby securing market shares and utilising their capacities accordingly. To reach this common goal, they engaged in illegal price fixing and market divisions, exchanged competitively sensitive information – relating for example to agreements on future behaviour when submitting bids – and in some cases formed anti-competitive working groups and bidding consortia.
The companies involved also agreed on which bidder should win each contract, the price to be offered and the submission of bogus offers, as well as arranging that certain competitors would not submit any bid at all.
FAQ Construction cartel update 2024
For further information on and developments in the construction cartel, please refer to our FAQ Construction cartel update December 2024.