Brussels reviews Křetínský's EPG bid for sole control of Fnac Darty

The European Commission received on 14 September 2026 notification of a proposed concentration under which EPG Group a.s. will acquire sole control of the whole of Fnac Darty S.A. The prior notification, filed under Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C series, of 24 September 2026 under case number M.12364 – EPG / FNAC DARTY GROUP (C/2026/4981).

The operation is to be accomplished by way of a public bid announced on 12 May 2026, according to the notice. The Commission states that, on preliminary examination, the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation, although the final decision on that point is reserved. The notice carries EEA relevance, and the Merger Regulation itself is cited as OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1.

A Czech holding takes over a French retail group

EPG Group a.s. is a Czech investment holding company ultimately solely controlled by Daniel Křetínský. Under Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation, EPG will acquire sole control of the whole of Fnac-Darty, the Commission’s notice states.

Fnac-Darty is mainly active in the retail distribution of consumer goods, in particular electronics, household appliances, books and cultural goods and services.

Publishing and media assets behind the bid

The notice sets out the business activities of the undertakings concerned:

• EPG is an investment holding company ultimately solely controlled by Daniel Křetínský, who also ultimately controls a number of entities active across different sectors.
• Those include Czech Media Invest, a.s. (CMI), the ultimate parent company of a business group focused on the acquisition and management of media assets in Central and Western Europe.
• Those assets include Editis Holding (Editis), a France-based book publishing group that sells French-language books published by its various publishing houses and markets and distributes books of third-party publishers to all types of retailers in the French-speaking part of the EU.
• Fnac-Darty is mainly active in the retail distribution of consumer goods sector, in particular electronics, household appliances, books and cultural goods and services.

Ten days for third-party observations

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed concentration. Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of publication of the notice, and the reference M.12364 – EPG / FNAC DARTY GROUP must always be specified.

Submissions can be sent by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post to the European Commission, Directorate-General for Competition, Merger Registry, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, Belgium.

The case reaches beyond the two companies involved: it would place a French retailer of electronics, appliances and books under the same ultimate ownership as Editis, one of France’s largest book publishing groups, concentrating media and cultural-retail interests in the hands of Daniel Křetínský. The Commission’s review, and the observations it receives over the next ten days, will determine whether the transaction clears under the EU Merger Regulation.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C series, C/2026/4981, 24 September 2026, section I (official reference: CELEX C_20264981).