Ceconomy Shares Rise After Report of JD.com's Interest in Buying Stake

By Helena Smolak

Ceconomy shares rose after a media report indicated that Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is interested in acquiring a stake in the owner of electronics-retail chains MediaMarkt and Saturn.

At 1215 GMT on Wednesday, shares of Ceconomy jumped 14% to EUR2.35.

German business journal Manager Magazin reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that JD.com has been in talks with Ceconomy shareholders such as Haniel and Meridian since the summer about a possible acquisition of their share packages.

Ceconomy, Haniel, and the Meridian and Beisheim foundations declined to comment when contacted by Dow Jones Newswires, while JD.com didn't immediately respond to a request for comment outside of business hours in China.

Haniel holds a 16.7% stake in Ceconomy, Meridian has an 11.1% shareholding, and Beisheim's interest amounts to 4.8%, according to the company's website.

Ceconomy--which operates around 1,000 Saturn and MediaMarkt stores--was formed in 2017 from a spin-off of the consumer-electronics business from Metro AG.

Ulrike Dauer contributed to this article.

Write to Helena Smolak at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 15, 2023 07:43 ET (12:43 GMT)

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