JD.com’s €2.2 billion (~$2.5 billion) takeover of CECONOMY — Europe’s largest consumer electronics retailer and parent of MediaMarkt and Saturn — faces simultaneous regulatory pressure on multiple fronts ahead of a key European Commission deadline on May 28. JD.com filed the deal for EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) review on April 21; the Commission set a 28-day preliminary investigation window, with tomorrow as the cut-off to determine whether to open a full in-depth probe. The FSR, which came into force in 2023, allows Brussels to block or impose conditions on acquisitions where a non-EU acquirer is found to have benefited from distortive foreign state support — in this case, alleged Chinese government subsidies to JD.com. The deal does not trigger standard EU merger control thresholds, making the FSR the Commission’s only avenue of review. EU parliamentarian Dirk Gotink has publicly flagged concerns over Chinese state backing, data protection risk, and European supply-chain resilience, signalling political appetite for an escalated probe. In Austria, a separate FDI review under national foreign direct investment law is still pending; CECONOMY acknowledged in a March 27 press release that “the Austria review is challenging.” Italy approved the deal with strict data protection conditions; France cleared it with conditions as well.
JD.com first announced the voluntary public takeover offer on July 30, 2025, with CECONOMY management recommending acceptance in September. By early December 2025 the Chinese firm had secured 85.2% of CECONOMY shares through the offer and an additional acceptance period. The deal had been widely expected to complete in the first half of 2026, but the combination of the FSR filing and Austria’s unresolved review has pushed completion beyond that window. A full FSR investigation, if opened, could take up to 12 months and may require JD.com to offer remedies. In a sign that JD.com’s European ambitions continue despite the regulatory friction, Retail Gazette reported this week that the company is also weighing a potential £2 billion bid for The Very Group, the UK online retailer operating the Very and Littlewoods brands, which is currently in a formal auction process following its Carlyle acquisition.