On May 28, 2020, a plenary Extraordinary Session of the Tribunal of Brazil’s Antitrust Agency (the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE)) decided on Proceeding No. 08700.002395/2020-51, finding, unanimously, that there is plausible economic justification for the “Small Trade Activity Recover - STAR Program” collaboration between the traditionally competing companies Ambev S.A., BRF. S.A., Coca-Cola Indústrias Ltda., Mondelēz Brasil Ltda., Nestlé Brasil Ltda. and PepsiCo do Brasil Ltda., which via a May 11, 2020 Memorandum of Understanding undertaking (MOU) intends to assist consumer small and medium-sized point-of-sale retail businesses as a means of minimizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the beverage industry sector.
By David Andrew Taylor, Partner, Almeida Advogados