Fnac’s takeover of electricals retailer Darty has been cleared by the French Competition Authority, subject to a store sell-off of six shops.

The six stores, of which one is yet to be opened, will be sold off from the combined Fnac Darty network.

The clearance, issued yesterday, is one of the last milestones of the deal’s completion.

Darty’s board accepted Fnac’s offer over those from Conforama and Steinhoff at the end of May, following a frenetic bidding war.

The board asked shareholders to accept Fnac’s offer at the time and that advice was repeated yesterday by Fnac, which said: “Darty shareholders who have not accepted Fnac’s offer are urged to do so as soon as possible”.

Fnac added that the competition authority clearance was “a landmark decision in Europe, that retail distribution of electronic products via both physical stores and online channels belong to a single relevant market”.

 

 

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