[CONSOLIDATION_METHOD_TITLE] [CONSOLIDATION_METHOD]
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English
oda_MaterialEventDisclosureGeneralAbstract|
Material Event Disclosure General
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Update Notification Flag
Evet (Yes)
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Correction Notification Flag
Hayır (No)
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Date Of The Previous Notification About The Same Subject
21.03.2019 , 07.12.2020
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Postponed Notification Flag
Hayır (No)
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Announcement Content
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Explanations
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Pursuant to our material event disclosures dated 21.03.2019 and 07.12.2020, Vestel Ticaret AŞ (Vestel Ticaret), a 100% subsidiary of Vestel Elektronik, made a negative clearance application to the Competition Authority on 14.05.2019 pursuant to Article 8 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition, to request to be allowed to provide after-sales services for Whirlpool's existing products in the market, limited to the period specified in the agreement to be signed between the parties due to the decision of Whirlpool Ev Aletleri Pazarlama ve Ticaret AŞ and Whirlpool Beyaz Eşya Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ (Whirlpool) to terminate their activities in Turkey. In addition to the negative clearance application submitted by Vestel Ticaret to the Competition Authority; Whirlpool's authorized service providers made an application to the Competition Authority with the allegations that Whirlpool and Vestel Ticaret violated the 4th, 6th and 7th articles of the Law No. 4054 with the so-called secret agreement between them and the said agreement should be cancelled as it hampered market competition. The Competition Board (Board) decided to conduct a preliminary investigation regarding the allegations in question pursuant to Article 40 of the Law No. 4054, and since the parties and subjects of the applications were the same, the preliminary research and Vestel Ticaret's negative clearance application were evaluated together. As a result of its preliminary research the Competition Board, with its decision dated 12.11.2019 and numbered 19-39/612-265, decided not to initiate an investigation, rejecting the complaints pursuant to Article 41 of the Law No. 4054; and decided that the agreement between the parties benefited from block exemption under the Block Exemption Communiqué on Vertical Agreements numbered 2002/2 since Whirlpool, which ended its activities in Turkey and Vestel Ticaret were not in competition. Claimant companies applied to the 11th Administrative Court of Ankara with the request for the annulment of the aforementioned Board Decision; and Ankara 11th Administrative Court, with the decision dated 22.10.2021 and numbered 2020/1409 E., 2021/1772, decided that there was no illegality in the Board Decision and the case was dismissed. Upon the appeal of the dismissal of the case by the claimants; Ankara Regional Administrative Court 8th Administrative Trial Chamber, with its ruling dated 02/11/2022 and numbered 2022/148 E. 2022/1272 K., decided to annul the decision of the Board, which is the subject of the case, on the grounds that it was not sufficient to make a decision as a result of the preliminary investigation while it should have been decided to open an investigation to determine whether the claims of the claimants constituted a violation within the scope of the Law No. 4054. Vestel Ticaret AŞ and the Competition Authority filed an appeal against the stay of execution request in the aforementioned decision of the Court of Appeal, to the 13th Chamber of the Council of State; and the request for stay of execution has not been finalized yet and the decision of the Court of Appeal has not become final. For this reason, the Competition Board, with its decision numbered 23-01/11-M, has decided to open an investigation against Whirlpool and Vestel Ticaret in order to comply with the decision of the Court of Appeal in accordance with Article 28 of the Administrative Procedure Law. As it is known, the opening of an investigation by the Competition Authority cannot be interpreted as the companies subject to the investigation have violated the Law No. 4054 or they shall face or be subject to criminal sanctions within the scope of the Law.


This statement was translated into English for informational purposes. In case of a discrepancy between the Turkish and the English versions of this disclosure statement, the Turkish version shall prevail.