The long-running investigation into illegal price coordination at Danish baby goods retailer ØnskeBørn A/S has officially concluded after a fifth senior employee admitted to complicity in competition law violations and accepted a fine of 50,000 Danish kroner (€6,700 EUR). This agreement follows recent fine acceptances by four other former executives in the same case.
The enforcement action was carried out by Denmark’s National Unit for Serious Crime (NSK) following a March 2023 ruling by the Danish Competition Council. The regulator determined that between October 2016 and November 2018, senior management actively contributed to unlawful price coordination across ØnskeBørn retail stores. The anti-competitive practices were implemented through an internal code of conduct governing marketing, pricing, and customer policies, supplemented by routine announcements instructing individual store owners on set prices, promotional discounts, and advertised rates.
Regarding individual accountability, three former executives accepted fines of 20,000 kroner for minor roles, while two key figures accepted 50,000 kroner fines. Authorities noted that while price coordination constitutes a severe breach of competition rules, the significant delay of nearly eight years since the infringement ceased acted as a mitigating factor in calculating the penalties.
The proceedings against individual management figures were delayed while primary enforcement against the corporate entity progressed through the legal system. In October 2025, the Maritime and Commercial Court issued a default judgment requiring ØnskeBørn A/S to pay a fine of 9 million kroner (€1,206,400 EUR). The company had previously entered bankruptcy proceedings in early 2025. Following the corporate insolvency, third-party buyers acquired the ØnskeBørn brand name, trademark, and select store locations, allowing retail operations to continue under entirely separate ownership.