Heineken NV (HEIA), the world’s third-
largest brewer, and Bavaria NV lost final appeals against
antitrust fines totaling 218.7 million euros ($290.4 million)
for colluding in an illegal cartel on the beer market.

The European Union Court of Justice, the 27-nation bloc’s
highest court, rejected the companies’ bids to overturn, cut or
review the fines in their entirety.

The European Commission, the EU’s antitrust regulator,
fined the brewers and former Dutch rival Grolsch in April 2007
for coordinating prices in the Netherlands from at least 1996 to
1999. InBev NV, which has since merged with Anheuser-Busch Cos.
to become the world’s largest brewer, escaped a fine after
tipping off EU officials.

A lower EU court last year annulled the antitrust
regulator’s decision and 31.7 million-euro fine concerning
SABMiller Plc (SAB)’s Grolsch. The September 2011 ruling by the EU
General Court said the commission hadn’t proven that Grolsch
directly participated in the cartel and “failed to explain”
why the company should be held liable for a Dutch subsidiary’s
conduct. The same court in June 2011 cut Heineken’s fine to 198
million euros from 219.3 million euros and Bavaria’s penalty to
20.7 million euros from 22.8 million euros.

Heineken’s original fine was paid in full in July 2007 and
reported as an exceptional item, the Amsterdam-based company has
previously said. Heineken is “disappointed” and “mandates 100
percent compliance with applicable competition laws,” according
to an e-mailed statement.

Bavaria spokeswoman Inge van der Heijden declined to
comment on the decision.

The cases are: C-452/11 P, Heineken Nederland and Heineken
v. Commission; C-445/11 P, Bavaria v. Commission.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Stephanie Bodoni in Luxembourg at
sbodoni@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net