By Matthias Inverardi and Emma-Victoria Farr
DUESSELDORF (Reuters) -German electronics retailer Ceconomy confirmed on Thursday it was in advanced negotiations over a potential takeover by China’s JD.com at 4.60 euros per share.
Bloomberg had earlier reported that JD.com was nearing a decision on a bid for Ceconomy.
Ceconomy shares were trading at 4.29 euros on Thursday. A potential deal would value the business at around 2.2 billion euros ($2.59 billion).
The retailer, which owns electronics chains MediaMarkt and Saturn, confirmed the advanced talks but said that no legally binding agreements had yet been signed and it was not certain whether a takeover offer would happen.
Ceconomy’s major shareholders, the Kellerhals family and Duisburg family holding company Haniel had no immediate comment.
Smaller shareholders Meridian, Beisheim and Freenet declined to comment.
The Kellerhals family, founders of MediaMarkt and Saturn, holds almost 30% of Ceconomy shares through its financial vehicle Convergenta, making it the largest individual shareholder. Haniel has around 17%.
Around 36.3% of Ceconomy’s shares are in free float.
The MediaMarkt and Saturn brands would give JD.com access to one of the largest online shops for electronic goods in Europe and a network of around 1,000 stores in several European countries. Around 50,000 people work at the two chains.
Ceconomy had annual sales of 22.4 billion euros in its 2023/24 financial year, of which 5.1 billion euros came from online shops.
JD.com, which competes with Alibaba and Amazon, looked at an acquisition of British electronics retailer Currys last year, but the discussions did not yield any tangible results.
JD.com was mainly interested in the Currys network of stores and warehouses to further its expansion in Europe. Ceconomy has a similar network to offer on the European continent.
($1 = 0.8499 euros)
(Reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski in Gdansk, Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf and Emma-Victoria Farr in Frankfurt; Editing by Madeline Chambers and Jane Merriman)
