Berlin is probing whether Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc’s (京東集團) bid to take over a major German electronics retail group presents a risk to the country’s security, government sources said on Tuesday. It is the latest case of an attempted Chinese investment in Europe’s top economy facing official scrutiny. Some deals have been watered down or blocked in recent years on national security grounds.
JD.com announced in July that it had signed a deal to acquire Ceconomy AG, the parent company of two major retailers, MediaMarkt and Saturn, valuing the German group at 2.2 billion euros (US$2.6 billion).
The agreement was not yet finalized, but Ceconomy’s management recommended that its shareholders accept the offer.
Photo: REUTERS
In response to a question raised by a lawmaker about the potential risks, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy confirmed that an official review of the deal had begun and was in its “early stages.”
As part of the review, officials would examine “whether the planned acquisition affects the public order or security of the Federal Republic of Germany” or another EU state, according to the ministry’s response.
The question had been submitted by German lawmaker Anne-Mieke Bremer from far-left party Die Linke.
Bremer said the attempted takeover was “not just a matter of company balance sheets — it is also a matter of digital sovereignty, security of supply and democratic control.”
MediaMarkt and Saturn have a network of more than 1,000 electronics stores, many of them in Germany, but also in several other European countries, as well as online sales platforms.
There has been resistance to Chinese attempts to invest in Germany.
A bid by Chinese state-owned shipping giant China COSCO Shipping Corp (中國遠洋海運集團) to buy a stake in a Hamburg port sparked a furious row on national security concerns, with COSCO only allowed to buy a smaller stake than it had originally sought.
The sale of two German semiconductor makers to Chinese investors was blocked entirely.