JD.com eyes US$2.6 billion takeover of Germany’s Ceconomy to boost European presence
JD.com has been hunting for acquisitions to expand amid weakness in the Chinese economy
JD.com is considering an offer of €4.60 in cash for each Ceconomy share, according to Ceconomy’s statement on Thursday. The potential offer price represents a 23 per cent premium to the company’s closing price of €3.75 on Wednesday.
No binding agreements had been signed so far and it was not certain a takeover offer would be made, the statement said.
JD.com had been in discussions with the major shareholders of Ceconomy and any formal offer would hinge on their support, people familiar with the matter have said. Some big shareholders were hesitant to sign irrevocable agreements to tender their shares to JD.com, which could potentially derail the deal, some of the people said.
Shares of Ceconomy extended gains to as much as 15.5 per cent and touched their highest intraday level since November 2021 after the company statement on Thursday. Bloomberg News first reported in February that JD.com had revived its interest in acquiring the Frankfurt-listed company.
The potential offer would exceed the €4.17 entry price for Ceconomy’s largest shareholder, while founding family shareholders of Metro got their Ceconomy shares from its demerger, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Tatiana Lisitsina and Darja Lema wrote in a note.