Adidas said it would step up its compliance efforts in Japan after its unit there received a warning from the Fair Trade Commission saying it unlawfully pressured retailers to stop them from offering discounts on Reebok EasyTone sneakers, according to a Reuters report.
The German sporting goods company and its wholesalers stopped shipments or threatened to halt deliveries of its products to Japanese retailers who cut prices, the anti-trust watchdog said in a statement on its website on Friday.
A spokeswoman for Adidas in Germany said the group was taking the cease-and-desist order seriously.
“Compliance with the law is one of the key values for Reebok,” she said in a statement, adding Adidas would not have to pay a penalty.
The world’s second-largest sporting goods maker after Nike Inc (NKE.N) was raided by the regulator last April allegedly over its pricing tactics for the muscle-toning EasyTone sneakers, which Adidas began selling in Japan in 2009.
Source: Reuters
