‘No grounds for action’ over sports bra claims

Competition regulators have closed their investigation into claims of price-fixing involving a sports bra maker and three department stores.

The probe was launched last year by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which had received a complaint that DBApparel had agreed a fixed or minimum price for its Shock Absorber bras with Debenhams, House of Fraser and John Lewis.

But the OFT’s successor, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), today said that, following a “thorough review of the evidence”, it had decided to drop the investigation.

Philip Marsden, chair of the case decision group, said: “The CMA treats allegations of resale price maintenance very seriously, as it may restrict competition and mean that consumers end up paying more than is necessary.

“However, having carefully reviewed the evidence in this case, including the parties’ representations, we have decided that there are no grounds for action by the CMA.”