One of the biggest acquisitions of electronics retailers in Europe has taken place.
The German company Ceconomy, the owner of well-known chains MediaMarkt and Saturn, has ended up in the hands of Chinese retailer JD.com.
The Chinese will pay 7 percent more than the market value for each Ceconomy share, which is around 4.6 euros. Ceconomy generates about 22.4 billion euros in annual revenue, of which 5.1 billion comes from online sales.
With the acquisition, Chinese JD.com will gain access to nearly 1.000 physical stores in Europe and a strong share of the online market.
Until now, the biggest obstacle to the acquisition was the opposition of the Kellerhals family, which owns nearly 30 percent of Ceconomy shares through the company Convergenta, but they eventually agreed to reduce their stake. It will still remain at 25 percent.
JD.com has committed not to close stores, impose layoffs, or interfere with collective agreements over the next three years.
“The goal is to strengthen European retail with shared values and complementary strengths,“ said Ceconomy CEO Kai-Ulrich Deissner.
