JD.com in talks to buy German e-commerce firm Ceconomy for €2.2 billion

2025-07-25 14:13:57

JD.com Inc. is considering acquiring German e-commerce company Ceconomy AG for 2.2 billion euros (about 18.509 billion yuan), according to reports from multiple media outlets on Thursday.

Ceconomy confirmed on Thursday that it is engaged in advanced negotiations with JD.com regarding a potential acquisition, with an offer price of 4.6 euros per share.

This offer represents a 23% premium over Ceconomy's closing price of 3.75 euros on Wednesday.

Bloomberg reported that JD.com is about to make a decision on whether to acquire Ceconomy. If the deal is finalized, its valuation would be approximately 2.2 billion euros.

As the parent company of the electronics retail brands MediaMarkt and Saturn, Ceconomy stated in a statement, "No legally binding agreements have been signed so far. At present, it is therefore not foreseeable for Ceconomy whether a takeover offer will actually be made or not."

Ceconomy's major shareholders—the Kellerhals family (holding nearly 30% of shares through its financial vehicle Convergenta, the largest individual shareholder) and the Duisburg family holding company Haniel (holding approximately 17% of shares)—did not immediately comment.

Smaller shareholders Meridian, Beisheim, and Freenet all declined to comment.

Reuters believes that for JD.com, the core value of acquiring Ceconomy lies in gaining access to MediaMarkt and Saturn's European business network: the two brands operate one of Europe's largest online electronics stores and approximately 1,000 physical stores across multiple European countries, employing around 50,000 people.

Ceconomy recorded sales of 22.4 billion euros in the 2023/24 fiscal year, of which online business contributed 5.1 billion euros.

Additionally, JD.com had previously considered acquiring UK electronics retailer Currys last year, but the negotiations did not yield concrete results.

At the time, JD.com's core objective was to advance its European expansion through Currys' store and warehouse network.

Ceconomy possesses a similar offline network across the European continent, which is the key reason it became a negotiation target for JD.com.

e-commerce JD.com

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