Quick Take — EU freezes purchase of Ceconomy by Chinese e-commerce giant Jd.com

For the first time, in fact, the EU Commission has triggered the shield provided by the regulation against foreign state aid.

Brussels in fact suspects that Jd.com received public subsidies from the Beijing government that enabled it to make a higher bid to take over the German group that controls the Mediaworld, MediaMarkt and Saturn chains. And which, in the future, may enable it to take advantage of the European market and distort competition, for instance by charging lower prices.

The EU Commission’s investigation aims in particular to ascertain whether Jd.com has received privileged loans, tax incentives and public subsidies from the Chinese state. Brussels believes it has already found some clues to this effect, but reserves the right to go deeper in the investigation, which will be concluded by 2 October

In France, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) meanwhile approved the proposedtakeover bid launched in January by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky to take control of electronics and cultural products specialist Fnac Darty. This decision will allow him to rise above the 50% shareholding threshold and block the Chinese takeover attempt.

Kretinsky also owns the French supermarket chain Casino.

On this topic read this article

New Princes will buy Carrefour Italia supermarkets: the difference between cheer and reality

One cannot improvise as a retailer and, above all, it is not always the case that aggregating several realities, with different cultures, brings strength: the acquisition of Newlat reminds me of the events of Standa and those of Auchan-Conad, but also of the Carrefour- Promodes merger or the events of Walgreens with Boots. Not to mention the lesson of the bankruptcy of Sears or that of the closure of Dominick’s for manifest incompetence

Quick Take — JD.com acquires a total share of 85.2% in Ceconomy which controls Mediaworld

In the meantime, JD.com had to accept a number of restrictions, from the French and Italian governments, concerning its indirect 22% stake in FnacDarty, a share held by Ceconomy itself.

These restrictions extend, as a logical consequence, also to the subsidiary Unieuro, where the French owns 100 per cent.

The main shareholder of FnacDarty remains, however, with 28%, the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky who controls Metro and what remains of Casino.

The company posted a turnover of $158.8 billion (€152.8 billion) in the financial year ending 31 December 2024.

You can read about it here.

Quick Take — ALDI conquers Manhattan

Drafted 23 August, updated 25 August 2025

The new shop near Times Square will open next year and will be 2,500 sqm.

The discount chain has 2,500 outlets in the United States and already has outlets in the city (see photos below).

The trend of discounters replacing supermarkets in city centres is confirmed: Lidl is opening in the centre of Milan(while Aldi has it surrounded).

Confirmation on Italy can be found here.

On the other hand, the Casino discounters in Paris have been in the centre for decades.

Interesting: Aldi creates a Fan Club in the USA

Compiled 25 August, updated 1 September 2025

Unfair Practices : The failure of regulation

Penalties for unfair practices in 2023-2024 amount to only 665,000 euros against estimated damages of at least 350 million annually. in essence on prices and unfair practices the ‘dolce far niente’ of Italian politics continues. Remember this when you see the next tractors in the square or when you hear about the sad affairs of groups like Auchan, Casino, Carrefour Italia and others