According to Reuters, Ceconomy, a German retailing group of appliances, confirmed on Thursday this week that intensive negotiations were under way with the Chinese electric power giant Kyodong on potential acquisitions. According to the negotiations, the purchase price proposed by Kyoto was 4.60 euros per share. The success of this potential acquisition will significantly enhance the position and influence of the Gyeongdong in the European retail market, particularly in the area of electrical appliances.
Before the news came out, Bloomberg had reported that Kyoto was close to the decision to launch an acquisition offer against Ceconomy. As a result of this information, Ceconomy received Euro4.29 on Thursday. If the acquisition price of Euro4.60 per share is calculated, the value of the transaction is estimated at Euro2.2 billion (approximately RMB 18.5 billion).
Ceconomy has the well-known European electrical chains Media Markt (Vendeh City) and Saturn. While acknowledging that negotiations are at an advanced stage, the company stressed that no legally binding agreement has yet been signed and that it is uncertain whether an acquisition offer will eventually be made.
Neither the Kellerhos family, the main shareholder of Ceconomy, nor the Duisburg family holding company Haniel immediately commented on this potential deal. The other smaller shareholders, Meridian, Beisheim and Freenet, also refused to comment.
As the founders of Media Markt and Saturn, the Kellerhos family, through its financial instrument Convergenta, holds nearly 30 per cent of Ceconomy ‘ s shares and is the largest single shareholder. Hango held about 17 per cent of the shares. Some 36.3 per cent of Ceconomy ‘ s shares are in the free circulation unit.
The acquisition of the Media Markt and Saturn brands will allow Kyoto to take control of one of Europe’s largest electronics online malls, as well as a vast network of entities covering several European countries, which has about 1,000 businesses. These two chains employ around 50,000 employees. During fiscal year 2023/24, Ceconomy ‘ s annual sales amounted to 22.4 billion euros, of which 5.1 billion euros came from the online mall.
This acquisition attempt was not the first time that Kyoto sought to expand the European retail market for appliances. In the past year, Kyoto had intended to acquire Currys, a British electronic retailer, but discussions had not made substantial progress. At the time, the main focus was Currys’s door and storage network to help expand its European operations. The fact that Ceconomy happens to have similar physical network resources on the continent is undoubtedly a key factor in attracting Kyoto. The main competitors currently in the global market include Ali Baba and Amazon.