JD Sports fined $1.6 million by UK regulator over merchandise pricing

(Reuters) – JD Sports said on Tuesday that it was fined about 1.5 million pounds ($1.6 million) by Britain’s competition regulator after an investigation into retail prices of certain branded clothing products of the Rangers Football Club was completed.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had in June provisionally found that JD Sports, Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer, and rival Elite Sports had colluded to fix the retail prices of a number of Rangers-branded replica kits and other clothing products.

The CMA had determined the final penalty at a “substantial” discount after it co-operated during the watchdog’s investigation, JD Sports said in a statement. The company would not appeal against the fine, it added.

JD Sports had in June set aside 2 million pounds for a potential fine and legal costs.

($1 = 0.9256 pounds)

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)