PARIS (Reuters) - France's competition authority will take account of online sales when analysing French retailer Fnac's (PA:FNAC) planned acquisition of consumer electronics retailer Darty (L:DRTY), its boss said on Wednesday.
The Autorite de la Concurrence is expected to rule on the deal in mid-July, President Bruno Lasserre told a news conference.
Lasserre said the Autorite had decided to look at a single distribution channel, including both online and in-store sales, when reviewing the deal because "these two markets are in competitive interaction".
The decision would lower Fnac and Darty's share of the physical store market in France, he said, without elaborating.
Fnac, which is looking to reduce its reliance on highly competitive books and CD markets, made a final offer for Darty of 170 pence a share in April, valuing it at about 900 million pounds.
Darty's board has recommended the offer, which is expected to close on July 15.
London-listed Darty earns 70 percent of its revenue in France but has 400 stores across Europe and annual revenue of 3.7 billion euros. It has 222 stores in France alone.
Fnac had 199 stores at end-2015, including 124 in France, generating sales of 3.9 billion euros.