The Bundeskartellamt has taken action against six companies, imposing fines of around €60.3 million due to collusion in customer protection and price agreements related to thin asphalt layers used in road repairs.

The companies involved include AS Asphaltstraßensanierung GmbH, BITUNOVA GmbH, Kutter Spezialstraßenbau GmbH & Co. KG, Possehl Construction GmbH, Liesen…alles für den Bau GmbH, and VSI Sanierungs- und Baugesellschaft mbH. The latter was merged into Possehl during the investigation, and fines were levied against the successor entity.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, stated that leading DSK providers in Germany had been sharing public contracts among themselves for years. They agreed that the provider who first won a customer for the DSK method would receive all future contracts from that customer. In cases where a company needed additional work, they would sometimes deviate from this arrangement or form a consortium to split the contract among several providers.

The cartel affected a significant area of public infrastructure, impacting investments by federal, state, and local governments responsible for road construction. From 2010, Kutter, Bitunova, Possehl, and OAT began dividing DSK customers and their contracts nationwide, with VSI, Liesen, and AS joining later.

The companies regularly coordinated on bids for public and some private clients, determining in advance who would receive contracts and the minimum price for their offers. They maintained regular contact, meeting monthly during the spring and summer, often in Kassel. Price guidelines were communicated in code, using various disguises such as meter or kilometer prices, or even references to events.

The violations involved numerous bids and contracts from public clients across Germany, as well as private clients like airport and port operators. The collusion ended in September 2019.

This case stemmed from a previous investigation into road repairs, leading to searches in August 2019. The Bundeskartellamt worked closely with law enforcement agencies during the investigation, which focused on potential criminal activities related to bid rigging.

Companies Possehl/VSI, Bitunova, Kutter, and AS cooperated with the Bundeskartellamt under the leniency program, which was taken into account for reducing fines. All proceedings were concluded through amicable settlements.

The fines are now legally binding, and a case report will soon be published on the Bundeskartellamt's website.