Italy’s government has given its conditional approval to Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com’s takeover of German electronics retailer Ceconomy, a parliamentary document showed on Thursday, reports Reuters. Using its so-called “golden power” legislation, Italy reserves the right to block or set conditions on domestic and foreign deals affecting the country’s strategic assets.
As part of the $2.5 billion German-Chinese deal, MediaMarkt and Saturn brands operating in Italy through electronics retailer MediaWorld will change hands.
The document said Rome’s cabinet had imposed on November 24 some, unspecified “prescriptions” to clear the transaction. JD.com, which competes with Alibaba and Amazon, has accelerated its global push in recent years.