Last summer, Chinese online retail giant JD.com made a bid of over SEK 20 billion to buy German Ceconomy, which primarily owns the home electronics chains Media Markt and Saturn.
However, the European Commission suspects that the Chinese company received undue advantages in the form of tax settlements and grants from the Chinese state.
This now opens a formal investigation under the new EU rules on foreign state aid that came into effect in 2023, which could lead to the deal being blocked. A first decision is expected within three months.
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