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Appliance giant Suning buys major stake of Japan retailer LAOX

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-24 22:39

SHANGHAI: Chinese appliance giant Suning Appliance Co. will buy 27.36 percent of shares of Japanese electronics retailer LAOX Co. to become its biggest shareholder, Suning announced Wednesday.

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This is the first purchase of a Japanese public company by a Chinese firm.

Suning will invest 800 million yen (US$8.4 million) to buy LAOX's 66.67 million shares, at 12 yen per share.

"As a listed company with transparent information and controllable risks, LAOX is worthy of our investing," said Sun Weimin, Suning's president.

Suning, China's second-largest home appliance chain, hopes to learn business practices from Western and Japanese companies. The Japanese consumer electronics retail market is similar to the Chinese market, Sun said.