The French Federal Cartel Office approved Fnac‘s acquisition of Darty. Combined, it will become France’s largest electronics retailer, worth nearly 8 billion euro in turnover.
Sell 6 stores
There are certain conditions to be met before the approval is final: the company will have to sell 6 stores, all located in the area around Paris.
The Federal Cartel Office’s approval proved to be very easy as it also entailed online sales. If it were only to look at physical sales, Darty and Fnac’s market share would be much higher. Pure players, like Amazon, provide enough competition online to lower Darty and Fnac’s overall market share.
Fnac’s acquisition of Darty is the end result of a long battle between Fnac and South African Steinhoff, which also wanted to acquire Darty. Finally, Fnac won out with a 900 million pound (1.16 billion euro) bid. The company feels Darty is the ideal way to expand its product range: it aims to lower its dependency on the entertainment industry and to shift the attention to household appliances.
