JD.com completes $2.5bn takeover of MediaMarkt owner Ceconomy

JD.com has completed its $2.5bn acquisition of Ceconomy, the German electronics retailer, the Chinese ecommerce group confirmed.

The deal closed on Thursday and gives the owner of Joybuy control of MediaMarkt and Saturn, which run more than 1,000 stores in 11 European markets.

JD.com paid €1.34bn for 59.8 per cent of Ceconomy. Its investment partner Convergenta keeps a further 25.3 per cent, taking their combined holding to just over 85 per cent.

Jack Li, chief executive of JD Worldwide, recently told Reuters that the group aims to turn the acquisition into Europe’s leading consumer electronics retail platform.

JD.com intends to overhaul delivery, including next-day delivery throughout Europe, 90-minute delivery via Uber and 30-minute in-store collection.

Remko Rijnders, chief executive of Ceconomy, said the changes would hand the business a significant competitive advantage. “This will change the market in Europe,” he said.

Shoppers on Joybuy, JD.com’s European ecommerce platform, will also be able to use MediaMarkt and Saturn stores, adding to the group’s physical retail footprint.

JD.com plans to grow its European logistics network, which already runs to more than 60 distribution centres, as it speeds up its international expansion.

Ceconomy will continue to operate as a standalone company under its current management, with no major changes planned to staff or stores.

The deal was finalised after months of scrutiny from the European Commission over concerns about possible Chinese state subsidies. Brussels signed off on the deal earlier this month once JD.com had put forward commitments to ease competition concerns.

The takeover is the latest step in JD.com’s expansion into European retail, after Joybuy launched in the UK earlier this year. Joybuy has been taking on established retailers such as Amazon and Currys with competitive prices and fast delivery, and Ceconomy gives it further scale across the continent.