Chiara Ferragni's companies to pay $1.3 million to charity to settle antitrust case

ROME (Reuters) -Companies controlled by Italian fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni have agreed to pay at least 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million) to a children's charity to settle an antitrust case, Italy's competition authority (AGCM) said on Friday.

The regulator had opened an investigation into the sale of Ferragni-branded Easter eggs in 2021 and 2022 with packaging that could have misled buyers into thinking they were supporting the "I Bambini delle Fate" children's charity.

The regulator said Ferragni's companies Fenice and TBS Crew would pay 1.2 million euros over three financial years to the charity, which helps children with autism and disabilities.

The producer of the Easter eggs, Cerealitalia, will give the charity at least another 100,000 euros over the same period, AGCM said, adding that the payments represented binding commitments.

The regulator said non-compliance would lead to a reopening of the antitrust investigation as well as to fines of up to 10 million euros, and, in case of repeated violations, of a ban on doing business for up to 30 days.

Fenice and TBS Crew said in a statement cited by Italian news agencies that in addition to agreeing to the payment, they had decided to "clearly separate (their) commercial and charity activities".

Ferragni's press office did not immediately respond when contacted by Reuters.

Ferragni, who has almost 29 million followers on Instagram, was last year fined almost 1.1 million euros by AGCM over a similar case, concerning Ferragni-branded Pandoro Christmas cakes with packaging mentioning a children hospital.

Ferragni, who was facing a slew of negative publicity and cancelled partnerships with other firms, admitted to "a communications error", while Italy's government, in direct response to the controversy, tightened rules on charity giving.

($1 = 0.9243 euros)

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini. Editing by David Goodman and Jane Merriman)