Mediamarkt to be acquired by the Chinese

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• The German Federal Cartel Office has approved the takeover of Ceconomy - parent company of Media Markt and Saturn - by the Chinese e-commerce group JD.com.
• JD.com wants to become the majority shareholder with an offer worth 4 billion euros and thus significantly expand its presence in the European market.
• Final approval is still pending, as the Federal Ministry of Economics could veto the deal for security policy reasons.

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The Federal Cartel Office has no objections to the Chinese group JD.com acquiring a stake in Europe's largest electronics retailer Mediamarkt-Saturn. The German competition authority has approved the takeover of the parent company Ceconomy.

The Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com wants to become Ceconomy's new majority shareholder. The offer corresponds to an enterprise value of 4 billion euros. The takeover is part of JD.com's European offensive.

"Hardly active in Germany"

The President of the Federal Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt, said that JD.com has only been active to a very limited extent in Germany to date. "The merger therefore has only a few competitive points of contact and does not give rise to any competition law concerns."

However, the deal is not yet a done deal. The Federal Cartel Office is exclusively responsible for examining the competitive effects of mergers and acquisitions. Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) could still veto the deal if she has security concerns.

Chinese giant swallows European top dog

JD.com, with an annual turnover of almost 159 billion US dollars (2024), sees itself as "a leading global technology and services company with a supply chain at its core and China's largest retailer by revenue". JD.com's well-known strengths are its own logistics and technological expertise.

According to the annual report, Ceconomy has more than 1,000 specialist stores in eleven European countries, almost 400 of which are in Germany and 45 in Switzerland. In the 2010s, there were six Saturn locations in Switzerland in addition to Media Markt, which became Media Markt stores in 2012 due to a lack of success.

In the most recent full financial year 2023/24 (to the end of September), the company generated sales of 22.4 billion euros, of which just under a quarter was attributable to the online business. By comparison, Digitec Galaxus generated sales of just over 3 billion Swiss francs in Switzerland, putting it well ahead of Media Markt with just under 600 million Swiss francs.

At the end of September 2024, Ceconomy employed around 50,000 people worldwide, including around 17,000 in Germany and 1,000 in Switzerland. In the 2010s, there were six Saturn locations in Switzerland in addition to Media Markt, which became Media Markt stores in 2012 due to a lack of success.

JD.com still has little presence in Europe

The Federal Cartel Office has now pointed out that Ceconomy operates under the main brands MediaMarkt and Saturn with a Germany-wide store network as well as in online retail. JD.com, on the other hand, is particularly active in the areas of online retail and e-commerce logistics.

In Europe, the Chinese group is active with the online stores Joybuy and Ochama, with the latter brand soon to be merged into the former, as reported by "Bilanz". With Media Markt and Saturn, JD.com is securing space in European city centers - provided the Federal Ministry of Economics gives the green light.