The Japan Fair Trade Commission conducted a raid on four major beer makers—Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory—on suspicion that they formed a cartel to fix beer prices.

On October 7, the Fair Trade Commission launched a compulsory investigation on the four companies on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Act.

According to sources, the four companies are suspected of coordinating, over many years, the extent and timing of price increases for beer sold to wholesalers and others.

The companies are believed to have coordinated the price increases through meetings between their sales representatives.

The Fair Trade Commission is expected to examine documents seized during the raids as it investigates the case, with a view to filing a criminal complaint with prosecutors.