French retail giant Carrefour has won its appeal in a Jakarta district court against an order to sell its stake in Indonesian supermarket chain PT Alfa Retailindo.
The Indonesian Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition (KPPU) ruled in November that Carrefour Indonesia must sell its stake in Alfa Retailindo within a year, after it decided the company had violated Indonesia's antitrust laws.
After overturning the ruling, Judge Kusno explained his decision could only be appealed in the Supreme Court, Bloomberg.com reported.
'There is no evidence that Carrefour dominated the market, KPPU is wrong in interpreting market competition. We used data from three surveys,' he said in delivering his findings.
Carrefour's lawyer Ignatius Andy said the company was prepared for a KPPU challenge to the decision in the Supreme Court.
'All KPPU decisions on Carrefour now are cancelled, including the sale of the stake in Alfa,' he said. 'We are preparing ourselves if KPPU continue this case.'
Carrefour bought Alfa Retailindo in 2008 for Rp675bn (US$70m) as a part of its expansion plans.
KPPU chairman Benny Pasaribu said Carrefour's share of Indonesia's supermarket sector had risen to 58 per cent with the purchase, contravening Indonesia's anti-monopoly legislation.
'That market power and dominant position has been misused by Carrefour to force its suppliers into providing discounts,' Mr Pasaribu said.
'The commission will decide the next step. There is a possibility to bring the case to the Supreme Court,' Muhammad Reza, KPPU's head of litigation, said after the verdict was read.
