European Commission investigations are continuing into suspected anti-competitive practices in the roof windows industry following raids on the market leader Velux.
Velux has protested its innocence, saying that it has always made every effort to comply with competition legislation and rules.
The Danish company said a number of locations in the Velux group were raided on September 30 and that its employees have co-operated with commission representatives.
In a statement, the commission said the raids were carried out at the premises of producers and distributors of roof windows in four EU member states.
“The commision has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EC Treaty anti-trust rules that prohibit restrictive business practices and/or abuse of a dominant market position,” it said.
Rival manufacturer Poland-based Fakro originally wrote to Polish anti-trust authorities in 2006, complaining about alleged anti-competitive commercial practices by Velux. The authorities passed the matter onto the commission in 2007.
Velux is estimated to have an 80% share of the worldwide roof window market in terms of value of units sold. Fakro says it has a 17% share in volume terms, but says its share of the lucrative western European market is only 5%.
Fakro claims Velux is depending on exclusionary rebates and other commercial practices to keep retailers from stocking products of other roof window manufacturers.
