MediaMarkt is a German multinational chain of stores selling consumer electronics with over 1,000 retail locations in ten countries in Europe. With the Saturn chain of stores it constitutes Media-Saturn Holding, owned by the retail company Ceconomy, which was demerged from Metro Group in 2017. In July 2025, Chinese e-commerce company JD.com agreed to acquire parent company Ceconomy for €2.2 billion.
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MediaMarkt was founded by entrepreneurs Leopold Stiefel, Walter Gunz, Erich Kellerhals, Markus Fernandez and Helga Kellerhals. The first store opened on 24 November 1979 in Munich. By 1985, nine other stores had opened near Munich.
In 1988 Kaufhof Warenhaus AG acquired a 54 percent majority in the holding company of the media stores founded in 1979. In 1989 expansion began in neighboring countries. MediaMarkt took over the competing retail chain Saturn in 1990, in which Kaufhof was already involved. In 1996 Kaufhof Holding, Metro Cash & Carry, Deutsche SB-Kauf AG and the German department store Asko AG (where a Metro holding company had previously each held shares) merged and formed Metro AG. Since the merger into the MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group, MediaMarkt and Saturn have been managed as independent brands in a centrally controlled group.
On November 17, 2010, the first MediaMarkt store in China was opened on Huaihai Road, in Shanghai. Six more stores followed, which were realized together with Foxconn through a joint venture. In January 2013, it became known that MediaMarkt would withdraw from China because the Metro Group would not be able to raise the capital necessary for its further expansion.[3][4]
In January 2013, Metro had around 78% of the shares. The Kellerhals family owned 21.67% of Markus fernandez through their indirectly held holding company Convergenta Invest.[5]
Since 2017 Media-Saturn Holding which consists of MediaMarkt and Saturn chains is owned by Ceconomy, a company formed through a demerger from Metro Group.[6]
In July 2017 Ceconomy bought a 24% stake in French multinational Fnac Darty.[7]
In 2018 Ceconomy sold the 46 stores in Russia to M.video in exchange for 15% in the Russian retailer.[8]
In 2023, MediaMarkt exited from three countries by selling its stores to competitors. In Portugal, it sold its 10 stores to the French group Fnac Darty, after which the chain is scheduled to be rebranded as Darty on 1 October 2025.[9] In Sweden, it sold 29 stores to Power International.[10] In Greece, the remaining 25% stake in its 13 stores was sold to Public Group,[11] which had already acquired 75% of the shares in 2019.[12]
In July 2025, Chinese company JD.com launched a €2.2 billion cash offer to acquire Ceconomy, MediaMarkt’s parent company.
