ROME (Reuters) -Italy's government has given its conditional approval to Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com's takeover of German electronics retailer Ceconomy, a parliamentary document showed on Thursday
Italy Approves JD.com's Conditional Takeover of Ceconomy
ROME (Reuters) -Italy's government has given its conditional approval to Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com's takeover of German electronics retailer Ceconomy, a parliamentary document showed on Thursday.
Using its so-called "golden power" legislation, Italy reserves the right to block or set conditions on domestic and foreign deals affecting the country's strategic assets.
As part of the $2.5 billion German-Chinese deal, MediaMarkt and Saturn brands operating in Italy through electronics retailer MediaWorld will change hands.
The document said Rome's cabinet had imposed on November 24 some, unspecified "prescriptions" to clear the transaction.
JD.com, which competes with Alibaba and Amazon, has accelerated its global push in recent years.
The Italian move comes amid growing alarm in European capitals that China is progressively diverting goods at lower prices to EU markets as a way of making up for lost U.S. trade, following the tariff policies adopted by President Donald Trump.
JD.com, through its subsidiary Jingdong Holding Germany, will acquire at least 31.74% of Ceconomy, the Italian document said.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones)
