JD.com considering offer for Currys

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Chinese ecommerce company JD.com said it is in the early stages of considering an offer for Currys, setting up an unlikely bidding war for the UK electronics retailer.

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19 Feb 2024

JD.com’s interest comes just days after Currys rejected an unsolicited bid from US investment group Elliott Management, saying it significantly undervalued the company.

Elliott’s proposal of 62p per share — a roughly 32 per cent premium to its closing price on Friday — valued the company at about £700mn. Currys’ shares surged 36 per cent to 64p in early trading on Monday.

Currys chief executive Alex Baldock, who joined in 2018, has been spearheading a turnaround of the chain, which sells televisions, laptops and other electrical goods online and through 815 stores in eight countries.

During the pandemic Currys closed all 531 Carphone Warehouse stores it owned in the UK, with the loss of 2,900 jobs, in an effort to make its struggling mobile phone business profitable.

A bid from JD.com would mark a strategic shift from the Chinese retailer, which was founded in 2004 and