The Italian government has given conditional approval to JD.com’s planned acquisition of German consumer electronics group Ceconomy, as reported by Reuters, citing a parliamentary document.  

The approval was granted under Rome’s “golden power” regime, which allows the government to veto or attach conditions to deals - domestic or foreign - that involve assets deemed strategic to the country. 

Ceconomy, which controls the MediaMarkt and Saturn retail chains, operates in Italy through the MediaWorld brand.  

The deal therefore triggers a change of ownership for these Italian operations as part of the wider $2.5bn transaction between the Chinese and German companies. 

The document showed that the Italian cabinet authorised the transaction while imposing a set of unspecified prescriptions that JD.com must meet in order to complete the deal.  

No further detail on those requirements was disclosed in the filing. 

JD.com, a Chinese e-commerce platform, entered advanced discussions in July 2025 over a voluntary public takeover of Ceconomy.  

 According to Ceconomy’s 24 July statement, the potential offer under discussion was €4.60 ($5.33) cash per ordinary share. 

JD.com, acting through subsidiary Jingdong Holding Germany, will purchase at least 31.74% of Ceconomy. 

MediaMarkt and Saturn together operated 1,030 stores across Europe as of 30 September 2024, employing 50,000 people and operating a sizeable online electronics platform.  

In the 2023/24 financial year, Ceconomy recorded total sales of €22.4bn, of which €5.1bn were online. 

In August 2024, Walmart sold its stake in JD.com to raise $3.74bn, a term sheet seen by Reuters  revealed.  

The decision was part of the US retailer’s strategy to focus on its own operations within China. Walmart sold 144.5 million American depositary shares priced between $24.85 and $25.85.