Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 27, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleItaly has conditionally approved JD.com's takeover of Ceconomy, involving MediaMarkt and Saturn brands. The deal highlights China's growing influence in European markets.
ROME (Reuters) -Italy's government has given its conditional approval to Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com's takeover of German electronics retailer Ceconomy, a parliamentary document showed on Thursday.
Using its so-called "golden power" legislation, Italy reserves the right to block or set conditions on domestic and foreign deals affecting the country's strategic assets.
As part of the $2.5 billion German-Chinese deal, MediaMarkt and Saturn brands operating in Italy through electronics retailer MediaWorld will change hands.
The document said Rome's cabinet had imposed on November 24 some, unspecified "prescriptions" to clear the transaction.
JD.com, which competes with Alibaba and Amazon, has accelerated its global push in recent years.
The Italian move comes amid growing alarm in European capitals that China is progressively diverting goods at lower prices to EU markets as a way of making up for lost U.S. trade, following the tariff policies adopted by President Donald Trump.
JD.com, through its subsidiary Jingdong Holding Germany, will acquire at least 31.74% of Ceconomy, the Italian document said.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones)
JD.com is a Chinese e-commerce company that specializes in online retail and logistics, competing with major players like Alibaba and Amazon.
Ceconomy is a German electronics retailer that operates brands like MediaMarkt and Saturn, focusing on consumer electronics and appliances.
Foreign investment refers to the investment made by individuals or entities in one country into assets or businesses in another country, often to gain returns.
A takeover is the acquisition of one company by another, where the acquiring company gains control over the target company, often through purchasing its shares.
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