EU competition regulators are assessing whether Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com’s $2.5 billion bid for German electronics retailer Ceconomy involves Chinese subsidies, according to a European Commission filing.
The Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, set a May 28 deadline for its preliminary probe. It can open a full-scale investigation at the end of this period if it has deeper concerns which may require concessions from JD.com.
The European Union review is under its Foreign Subsidies Regulation which targets unfair foreign state aid. The acquisition does not need to be examined under EU merger rules.
The deal, which will allow one of China’s largest retailers to expand outside its home market with the acquisition of Ceconomy-owned electronic products retailers MediaMarkt and Saturn, already faced a hurdle in Austria because of regulatory scrutiny under national foreign direct investment rules.
The Italian government has already given the green light for the deal.
Reuters
