The Competition Tribunal declared that SQMC and Anagra’s merger does not infringe free competition laws in Decree Law N° 211, as long as the companies abide by the following four conditions, destined to mitigate the merger’s inherent risks.
- SQMC must file an inquiry in the Competition Tribunal, before materializing any vertical integration operation with intermediaries in the commercialization of primary fertilizers in which it intends to participate, directly or indirectly, as well as before materializing any contract it intends to celebrate with distributors if said contract implies exclusivity clauses, or any conditions that reflect exclusivity.
- SQMC cannot discriminate arbitrarily between customers, when selling its own or its related companies’ fertilizers, directly or indirectly.
- SQMC cannot sell its own or its related companies’ fertilizers exclusively as part of a bundle. If it offers different products or services as a bundle, SQMC must offer each one of the products or services separately as well, and inform the individual sale price.
SQMC will have to maintain its “sociedad anónima” status, with independent patrimony and separate administration from SQM S.A. and from its related fertilizer producing companies, and will have to file an inquiry in this Tribunal if it wants to modify this situation in the future.