Private Equity Companies and Parental Liability—Appeal Court Hands Down Judgement in the Dutch Flour Cartel

Pieter van Osch describes Private Equity Companies and Parental Liability—Appeal Court Hands Down Judgement in the Dutch Flour Cartel.

ABSTRACT: In an appeal against the first ever cartel fine imposed by the Autoriteit Consument & Markt (Authority for Consumers and Markets, ‘ACM’) on a private equity investor, the Rotterdam district court had to decide on the question whether the concept of parental liability applies to these firms without restriction. Applying the case law developed by the EU courts and upon a concrete review of the economic, organisational, and legal links between the parties, the court upheld the ACM’s decision confirming that the concept of parental liability does not except private equity investors.