
German operator Freenet announced an agreement to acquire a stake in its distribution partner Ceconomy for EUR 277 million. The acquisition of around 32.6 million shares is valued at EUR 8.50 per share and takes the form of a capital increase at Ceconomy, giving Freenet a 9.1 percent share in the company.
Freenet subsidiary Mobilcom-debitel already works with Ceconomy, a subsidiary of retailer MediaMarktSaturn, on marketing its mobile communication offerings. Freenet said the cooperation is of "considerable strategic importance" and was recently extended until 2022. The deal covers the existing cooperation in high street outlets as well as marketing of mobile agreements in online and omni-channel sales. Mobile agreements are marketed exclusively on the networks of Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom in more than 400 outlets and also online.
Freenet and MediaMarktSaturn agreed earlier to extend their cooperation to cover further areas, including TV access, digital lifestyle services, hardware and CRM.
Ceconomy's main shareholders are the companies Haniel, Meridian Stiftung and Beisheim.