A bid of 2.2 billion euros for the European consumer electronics retail leader, JD.com aims to achieve "one-hour delivery in Europe."

JD.com is acquiring the German consumer electronics retail giant Ceconomy for €2.2 billion, seeking to achieve rapid local expansion overseas through the acquisition of an established European retail network. This also marks a key transformation in JD.com's international strategy from a cross-border model to local operations.

On Wednesday, JD.com announced plans to launch a public acquisition of Ceconomy at a price of €4.6 per share, with a total transaction valuation of approximately €2.2 billion (about $2.51 billion). On July 24, Ceconomy announced this potential transaction, and JD.com's offer represents a 23% premium over the trading price on the 23rd.

Following the announcement on Wednesday, Ceconomy's stock price rose by over 16%.

Ceconomy owns two well-known European electronics retail brands, MediaMarkt and Saturn, operating over 1,000 stores in 12 European countries and employing approximately 50,000 people.

This acquisition will provide JD.com with an established offline network and supply chain resources in Europe, which is expected to address the long-standing issues of supply shortages and capacity constraints in its overseas operations. For investors, this transaction also signifies a significant acceleration and shift in JD.com's international strategy.

Acquiring nearly 30% of shares, expected to complete in the first half of next year

JD.com's acquisition will secure nearly 30% of Ceconomy's shares. According to the transaction terms, the Kellerhals family, as the largest single shareholder, will sell 3.81% of their shares but will retain approximately 25.35% of their holdings to continue as investors.

The other four major shareholders, Haniel, Beisheim, BC Equities, and Freenet, collectively hold about 27.9% of the shares and have all indicated plans to sell their shares to JD.com.

Ceconomy's CEO Kai-Ulrich Deissner expects the transaction to be completed in the first half of 2026. Deissner stated to the media, "This is the right partner found at the right time. Through this partnership, we will gain world-leading technology, retail expertise, and supply chain resources."

Fitch Ratings indicated that this acquisition could enhance Ceconomy's credit profile, as JD.com, one of the largest e-commerce platforms globally, has an annual revenue of $160 billion and operates across multiple sectors, including retail, technology, logistics, and healthcare, which provides a stronger credit standing.

The localization operational logic behind the transaction

JD.com chose to enter the European market through the acquisition of Ceconomy, addressing two major pain points in its overseas expansion: supply shortages and capacity constraints.

Firstly, Ceconomy has a mature local supplier system, allowing JD.com to directly supplement its product pool and resolve the "out of stock" issue. At the same time, the high recognition of MediaMarkt and Saturn among local consumers can help JD.com quickly establish brand trust More strategically valuable is that Ceconomy's more than 1,000 stores can be transformed into an instant retail front warehouse network. Combined with JD.com's mature "same-day delivery" operational experience, it is expected to compress delivery times in the European market from 2-3 days to hours, reshaping the user experience.

This localized e-commerce model based on a physical network, although requiring higher investment, is consistent with JD.com's heavy asset operation model in the Chinese market. Liu Qiangdong has candidly stated that the downside of this business model is "very slow, very painful, and very tiring," but JD.com has been laying out its infrastructure in Europe for three years, and the basic infrastructure is now in place.

JD.com's Internationalization Strategy Shift

JD.com's acquisition reflects a significant adjustment in its internationalization strategy. Liu Qiangdong clearly stated at a mid-year sharing session that JD.com will not pursue a cross-border e-commerce model but will instead focus on local e-commerce overseas, building teams locally, conducting procurement and shipping, and only selling branded products.

This shift stems from JD.com's previous setbacks in overseas expansion. From JD.id in Indonesia to its collaboration with Google to explore the U.S. market, JD.com's overseas attempts have often struggled due to high logistics costs and insufficient localization of the supply chain, making it difficult to compete with localized rivals like Shopee and Lazada, ultimately leading to its exit from the Indonesian and Thai markets.

At the same time, e-commerce platforms represented by Temu, AliExpress, SHEIN, and TikTok have gained first-mover advantages overseas through low prices, social fragmentation, and flexible supply chain models. In the face of this landscape, JD.com must find a differentiated path to breakthrough.

Currently, JD.com's self-operated brands in Europe, Ochama and Joybuy, have begun testing "same-day delivery" services, but are limited by the lack of a local supplier system, resulting in a limited range of product categories (SKUs) and uncompetitive pricing, making it difficult to achieve economies of scale.

The acquisition of Ceconomy is seen as a key step for JD.com to solve the aforementioned challenges and achieve a strategic leap.

This acquisition is a concentrated embodiment of JD.com's "acquisition + integration" overseas model and is consistent with its recent layout in the Hong Kong market. Reports indicate that JD.com has recently completed the acquisition of the Hong Kong supermarket chain JiaBao, aiming to acquire its offline retail network. These actions indicate that JD.com is attempting to bypass the time-consuming and labor-intensive self-built phase by acquiring existing mature networks to quickly achieve localization.

JD.com has also recently launched the "100 Billion New Growth Plan," aiming to introduce 1,000 overseas new brands through a cross-border model over the next three years and help achieve a cumulative sales growth of 10 billion yuan. This dual layout reflects JD.com's internationalization strategy of balancing "bringing in" and "going out."