1st BATCH OF FILES AVAILABLE NOW!

Hard to overplay the scale of the FTC's lawsuit against Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits (SGWS), alleging extensive price discrimination and filed almost a yr go. Recall, to prove that, agency must point to pairs of transactions for the same products, where SGWS gave a preferred retailer a better deal than a competitor. Earlier this yr, agency identified 8,000 pairs of transactions, pointing to sales linked to 15 separate wine or spirits suppliers to 15 "favored" chain retailers and some 300 other "disfavored" ones, the parties wrote in a joint filing late last wk. But by end of Sep, immediately before govt shutdown, FTC identified 17 mil transactions across 30 states that concerned "thousands of retailers, thousands of products," SGWS wrote. And there could be more. Status: Still Digging, But for How Much Longer? Speaking of the shutdown, fed ct in CA agreed to put the high-profile dispute on hold, as requested by FTC, since agency couldn't do any nonessential work without funding. Now that the govt's back online, the parties are back at it. Filing last wk laid out each side's proposed timeline for completing discovery ahead of a possible trial date in mid-late 2027. Unsurprisingly, they disagree about how long this process will take, with FTC generally seeking a shorter timeline, SGWS a longer one.FTC recommends adding another 4+ mos to the earlier discovery timeline and sez SGWS's request for 7+ more mos amounts to "needlessly and unreasonably protracting the proceedings and impeding the prompt end to SGWS's ongoing unlawful price discrimination." On the other hand, "through various machinations, the agency has effectively delayed basic discovery in the factual basis underlying its complaint for nearly five months. Having done so," SGWS argues, FTC "should not be permitted to secure an aggressive, abbreviated schedule." In short, the pair are about as combative as you'd expect for a private co that's been dealing with the agency's investigation and litigation for some 3 yrs and an agency that claims the co's bad behavior is far-reaching.Millions of Gigabytes, Documents, Pages Speaking of the FTC's 2-yr investigation before it filed the suit last Dec, during that process, the agency turned up 4.5 mil docs totaling 21 mil pages from 51 "custodians" (or individuals at SGWS who held that data), according to the new filing. During discovery, FTC seeks data from 88 individuals. And the distrib has already produced 3.75 mil gigabytes of data in 2.75 mil docs with 20 mil pages. And again: discovery ain't over yet. Depositions, including of suppliers and retailers, haven't even really begun. "The sheer scope of third-party discovery that must be undertaken is massive," SGWS wrote, including 142 or 250 depositions (on the low end) and upwards of a thousand deposition hours.No Basis, Inconsistent Arguments, Southern Sez At same time it seeks lengthier discovery timeline, SGWS goes back to the beginning, reiterating critiques of FTC's complaint as well as the co's core issue: its breadth. Complaint cited "millions of transactions," but recall, discovery revealed the agency "had only identified" some 8,000 at the time. So SGWS is still trying to determine FTC's "basis for the complaint." Plus, agency has so far refused to turn over any docs related to its suit blocking the Kroger-Albertsons deal. The distrib is interested because in that dispute, FTC used arguments "that are plainly inconsistent with its contention that grocery stores compete with small liquor stores in this one," including that other types of retailers fill "different customer need states or missions" (and therefore don't compete with grocery stores).

"Thousands" of Brands, Retailers, 17 Mil Transactions & Counting: FTC v SGWS Gets Heftier, Testier

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