Ceconomy Has Entered Into an Investment Agreement With JD.Com
– 4 min read
JD.com is set to launch a voluntary public takeover offer at a price of €4.60 per Ceconomy share in cash. The Investment Agreement includes commitments regarding employees, the company's headquarters, its stores, and its brands, such as MediaMarkt and Saturn.
Ceconomy AG, the listed company behind MediaMarkt, Saturn and Deutsche Technikberatung, has announced its intention to enter into a partnership with JD.com. The aim is to accelerate current growth, seize emerging market opportunities and strengthen the company's position as Europe's leading omnichannel platform for consumer electronics. To this end, JD.com has made a voluntary public cash takeover offer for all Ceconomy shares, valuing the company at €4.0 billion enterprise value (EV) and offering €4.60 per share. Currently, the share price is trading at €4.44, compared with €2.65 at the beginning of the year. JD.com has already secured irrevocable tender commitments for approximately 32% of the share capital, including from Haniel, Beisheim, Freenet and Convergenta. Following the public takeover offer, Convergenta, the founder family shareholder, will maintain a c. 25.4% shareholding in Ceconomy. Ceconomy's Management Board and Supervisory Board intend to recommend that shareholders accept the offer. It was confirmed a few days ago that advanced negotiations are underway regarding a possible public takeover by JD.com.
Dr Kai-Ulrich Deissner, CEO of Ceconomy states: "With JD.com's outstanding technology, logistics, and retail capabilities, we can further accelerate our successful growth trajectory and go beyond our current strategic goals. Thanks to the tremendous dedication and commitment of our entire team, Ceconomy operates from a position of strength. Given the constantly evolving customer expectations and market dynamics, standing still is not an option. In the coming years, we don't just want to keep pace with the transformation in European retail - we want to continue leading it. JD.com is the right partner for this. We share a passion for our customers and a firm belief that our employees, trusted partnerships with international brand manufacturers, and the combination of digital and brick-and-mortar business are the keys to success. We partner with JD.com to strengthen European retail, based on complementary strengths and shared values."
"The partnership with JD.com sends a strong message of confidence and provides new pportunities to Ceconomy's workforce as JD.com explicitly backs Ceconomy's mid-term financial targets and existing Experience Electronics growth strategy, transforming the company from a consumer electronics retailer into a customer-centric service platform," the announcement reads. There will be no job cuts or site closures in connection with the transaction. "JD.com will respect existing work council agreements, collective bargaining agreements and the existing level of co-determination in the Supervisory Board." These commitments will remain in place for a period of three years. JD.com does not plan to make any significant changes to Ceconomy's company structure or organisation for a period of five years after the offer is settled. Ceconomy will remain an independent company.
Through the partnership, Ceconomy gains access to JD.com's technological capabilities, its logistics network, and its delivery services. "JD.com will support Ceconomy to 1) excel in store digitalization and advance its technology stack, 2) enhance its logistics networks and supply chain management, and 3) forge ahead with digital growth businesses." Ceconomy will maintain its independent IT systems and technology stack, which JD.com will help to transform using its advanced technological capabilities.
Sandy Xu, CEO of JD.com: "This partnership with Ceconomy will build Europe's leading next-generation consumer electronics platform. Ceconomy's market-leading position, strong customer relationships and growth are impressive, and we are firmly committed to investing in its people and distinct culture to build on this success. We will work with the team to strengthen the capabilities, while applying our advanced technology capabilities to accelerate Ceconomy's ongoing transformation. Our goal is to further grow Ceconomy's platform across Europe and create long-term value for customers, employees, investors and local communities. We have full confidence in the Management team of Ceconomy and look forward to working together to initiate the next phase of growth."
Christoph Vilanek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Ceconomy: "The partnership is a recognition of the successful journey Ceconomy has embarked on and the positive momentum it created since. With JD.com's support, Ceconomy's Experience Electronics strategy and growth trajectory will be able to unfold even more effectively. This will ultimately benefit customers across our European markets as we develop capabilities to serve them more holistically and faster. While the management team will continue to drive this strategy of Ceconomy as a standalone company, JD.com has made strong commitments to Ceconomy and its employees – opening a new chapter for the Company and creating new opportunities for its dedicated workforce."
JD.com is one of China's largest e-commerce companies and operates on a global scale. The company was founded in 1998 as an electronics store, and has since evolved into a leading online shopping platform, offering a wide range of products and maintaining its own logistics network.
https://www.finanzen.net/unternehmensprofil/jdcom
Ceconomy is the owner of the MediaMarkt and Saturn brands, with a total of 1,030 retail stores across Europe. The company's own brands include Peaq, Koenic, ok. and Isy. MediaMarkt has a network of over 300 stores in Germany, with more than 80 of these being Saturn stores. MediaMarkt is gradually taking over more and more Saturn shops (Handelsblatt). MediaMarktSaturn generated net sales of around €22.4 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, with approximately 50,000 employees. Online sales accounted for 23.6 per cent of total sales. Approximately 2 billion customer contacts are made each year.
https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/elektromarkt-media-markt-uebernimmt-immer-mehr-saturn-filialen/100133762.html
Never miss anything from the German, Swiss and Austrian games industry again: subscribe for free to our Daily newsletter and get all news straight to your inbox.
