In addition, Steinhoff's Conforama already seems fairly confident that it will not stumble over the same regulatory scrutiny as Fnac's deal, where regulators are taking the opportunity to scrutinise its dominance in Paris. However, given 20pc of Conforama revenues are from its electricals division it might not get off entirely scot free. Activist investor Knight Vinke, which owns a 14.4pc stake in Darty, had previously backed the Fnac offer. But it has been steadily reducing his stake and gave up his board seat in order to trade; as a result, it's likely he'll take the cash and run. Steinhoff has €2.8bn of cash sitting on its balance sheet meaning it can easily afford to buy both Argos and Darty. And it's unlikely to stop there.