Current report No. 31/2022

Legal basis: Art. 17 sec. 1 MAR – inside information

Title: Inside information – receipt of the statement of objections from the Polish antitrust authority by Allegro sp. z o.o.

Acting on the basis of Art. 17 sec. 1 of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on market abuse (market abuse regulation) and repealing Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directives 2003/124/EC, 2003/125/EC and 2004/72/EC ("MAR"), the Board of Directors of Allegro.eu (the "Company", "Allegro.eu") hereby gives notice that on 8 August 2022 it learned that Allegro sp. z o.o. ("Allegro PL"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, received a statement of objections from the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (the “OCCP”), as the antimonopoly authority in Poland (the "SOO").

The SOO concerns the antitrust proceedings initiated by the OCCP against Allegro PL in December 2019 and regarding the potential abuse of dominant position. Information about the proceedings has been reported by Allegro.eu in its initial public offering prospectus as well as updated in the periodic reports published thereafter.

The SOO provides for a summary of alleged infringements of Allegro PL and presents evidence collected by the OCCP in support of the claims made by the authority. The SOO indicates also points to mitigating and aggravating circumstances, as well as classification and legal framework.

According to the SOO, the OCCP is accusing Allegro PL of a dominant position abuse on the Polish market for B2C ecommerce marketplaces by favouring its own first-party retail sales activity (the "1P"), over the sales activities of third-party sellers operating on the Allegro PL platform (the "3P"). The OCCP claims that Allegro favoured its 1P activity over 3P sellers by granting 1P access to the following:

(i) information regarding functioning of the Allegro PL platform ("Platform") and/or the consumer's behaviour on the Platform,
(ii) information regarding sales and/or promotional functions on the Platform,

unavailable or of limited availability to 3P sellers allowing Allegro PL to obtain an unjustified competitive advantage of its own sales activity over independent sellers on the Platform, putting them at a competitive disadvantage.

The OCCP indicated in the SOO that it intends to issue a decision confirming the infringement of the dominant position by Allegro PL and ordering its cessation to the extent that the infringement has not been abandoned and imposing a fine on Allegro PL. The maximum amount of such a penalty may amount to 10% of the turnover achieved by Allegro PL in the year preceding the imposition of the fine.

At the same time, the SOO does not yet lead to the conclusion of the case conducted by the OCCP as to its merits nor does it prejudge that the proceedings will be concluded with a decision imposing a penalty or determines the exact amount of such penalty. Nevertheless, as certain infringements have been identified by the OCCP, the likelihood of a negative outcome of the OCCP proceedings might be increased.

Allegro PL does not agree with the OCCP claims. The overwhelming 99% of sales on the Allegro PL platform is carried out by independent sellers, with the 1p accounting for only the remaining 1%. Allegro PL remains of the opinion that it does not hold a dominant position and it did not favour 1P sales in the anticompetitive way. Nevertheless, Allegro PL intends to continue to fully cooperate with the OCCP. Compliance is paramount for the Company on all levels of its business.    

Allegro.eu is a Luxembourg public limited (société anonyme), registered office: 1, rue Hildegard von Bingen, L-1282 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Business Register: B214830