JD.com acquires majority stake in MediaMarkt: impact on the European market and MediaWorld's presence in Italy
The Chinese e-commerce giant strengthens its position in Europe with the purchase of Ceconomy, owner of MediaMarkt and MediaWorld, aiming at an integrated omnichannel strategy.
by Enrico Netti
The new majority shareholder of MediaMarkt, the German consumer electronics chain, is Chinese. The Chinese e-ecommerce group JD.com has a majority shareholding in Cececonomy, the holding company that controls a thousand MediaMarkt and Saturn shops and their marketplaces in Europe. As announced by Ceconomy in Duesseldorf, JD.com's shareholding increased to 59.8% of the share capital and voting rights. Adding the remaining stake of Convergenta, the holding company of the founding Kellerhals family, the total holding reaches 85.2%. The CEO of Ceconomy, Kai-Ulrich Deissner, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the transaction, emphasising that the shareholders followed the management's recommendation to accept JD.com's offer. China's leading e-commerce giant in the third quarter of 2025 reported sales of $142 billion with growth close to 15 per cent compared to the same period in 2024.
With the new partner, he said, the company will be able to accelerate its growth path and strengthen its position as Europe's leading omnichannel platform for consumer electronics, a strategy that integrates physical shops, e-commerce and apps. The acquisition, however, is not yet final. Although the German Antitrust Office already gave the green light in September, noting that JD.com is so far 'active in Germany only to a very limited extent', the completion of the transaction remains subject to foreign investment control approvals and the assessment under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026. Ceconomy operates a network of shops in Europe, in Italy there is the MediaWorld brand active with 144 shops and the marketplace. JD.com, according to the German antitrust authority, is the largest Chinese retailer by turnover, particularly strong in online trade and e-commerce logistics. At the end of July, JD.com and Ceconomy had already announced the signing of a preliminary agreement for the entry of the Chinese giant into the capital of the German company.
