Mexico Says Coke Violated Antitrust Law

Mexico’s antitrust commission has found Coca-Cola Co. and 89 of its bottlers guilty of trying to shut key competitors out of Mexico’s soft drink market.

The Federal Competition Commission said Coke has been violating the country’s competition laws by enticing thousands of small stores to sign exclusivity contracts in exchange for free refrigerators, Coke signs and other company merchandise.

The commission ordered the Atlanta-based company to stop offering exclusivity contracts and barred it from continuing some its marketing practices in Mexico, its largest market outside the United States. Regulators stopped short of fining the company.

A spokesman for Coke said the company would take time to review the ruling, which came in response to complaints submitted more than two years ago by its chief competitor, PepsiCo Inc., and a pair of Mexican soft drink manufacturers.

Coke controls more than 70% of Mexico’s soft drink market, even though Pepsi also offers small stores similar exclusivity deals.