Takeover speculation boosted Ceconomy's share price on Wednesday. The price of the shares of the electronics trading holding company rose by a good 14 percent at times in early trading in Frankfurt.
Retailers referred to a report by "Manager Magazin", according to which the Chinese online retail giant is showing JD.Com interest in the parent company of Mediamarkt and Saturn. The takeover of a block of shares in the Haniel conglomerate is to pave the way for this.
The talks had been going on since the summer, the report said, citing people familiar with the proceedings. However, it is uncertain whether a deal will actually be reached in the next few months. Ceconomy had become independent in 2017, and the former Metro Group was split up. A Haniel spokeswoman declined to comment on the report, and Ceconomy did not comment either.
According to Ceconomy's major shareholder Freenet, JD.Com has not yet knocked on the door about a possible takeover of its share. "JD.Com did not ask us about our share," a Freenet spokeswoman said on Wednesday. Freenet holds around 6.7 percent of Ceconomy's shares.