On December 20, 2012, the Competition Authority (AdC) opened an investigation against BRISA Auto-Estradas de Portugal, SA (Brisa), based on the participation presented by the Institute of Road Infrastructure, IP, (InIR), to investigate the terms of the public tender for the concession of motorway lanes and associated road assemblies in the districts of Porto and Aveiro.
After the analysis, the possibility of “a concerted predatory pricing practice” was ruled out, since Brisa and the AEDL - Douro Litoral Motorways (AEDL) Grouping were considered a single company for the purposes of the scheme. competition law.
The existence of predatory pricing in the construction of motorway sections of the motorway under consideration was also excluded, since the costs foreseen in the final bid of the AEDL competitor were higher than the construction costs included in the final bid of the losing competitor. Considering that any such practice has to be measured by comparing the total costs of the project with the profitability of the project, the basic and subsequently adjusted financial projections of the Consortium led by Brisa showed positive profitability rates, with no evidence of losses.
Thus, even if Brisa holds a dominant position, its conduct would not have been an abuse of that position.
Therefore, it was concluded that there was no evidence of prohibited practices, and the AdC filed the case on March 11, 2014.