Walmart’s Mexico division, Walmart de Mexico, is under investigation by Mexican authorities for alleged “monopolistic practices” related to wholesale supply and distribution, and retail operations.
Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission said Thursday it had opened an investigation against Walmex for “possible conduct of monopolistic practices relative to the supply and distribution market to wholesale of consumer goods, retail marketing of these and related services.”
The investigation actually began on July 24, but the commission has up to 120 days to publicly announce the inquiry. The commission has not announced a timeline for when it could issue a judgement in the investigation.
Walmart de Mexico, commonly known as Walmex, is Mexico’s largest retailer. The company has about 2,600 stores under seven brand names across Mexico. Walmex employs more than 200,200 people in Mexico.
In a notice to shareholders Walmex officials said “WALMEX is confident that its actions have always adhered to applicable legislation, and that its participation in the Mexican market has always resulted in lower prices for the consumer, particularly benefiting lower-income Mexican families, and in remote areas of the country that have not been served by others, which we will demonstrate before the corresponding authorities and in the appropriate forums in which we will exercise our rights.”
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Noi Mahoney.
More articles by Noi Mahoney
Nuvocargo targets Mexico growth with new hires