Suning to raise stake in Japan's Laox

BEIJING - Suning Appliance Co, China's largest consumer electronics retailer, announced Tuesday it will raise its stake in Laox Co, a Japanese home appliance chain, to 51 percent.

It will be the first Chinese company that holds proprietary in a Japanese firm after the deal is finalized.

According to Suning's statement, Laox will issue 9 billion yen ($111 million) worth of 257 million new shares through a third-party allocation to Suning and its overseas affiliate.

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Suning Appliance's investment arm will hold 51 percent of ordinary shares issued by Laox while a Suning affiliate will become Laox' second largest stockholder with a 14.3 percent stake.

Sun Weimin, vice chairman of Suning, said the increase of Suning's stakes in Laox would provide a consolidated overseas platform for its going internationalized strategy in the coming decade.

Sun said Suning will continue to fund Laox' daily operation while render management, operation and talent support.

Laox, a Tokyo-listed company, will use the funds through the share issue to open 150 stores in 25 Chinese cities under the brand Laox Life over the next five years. It plans to open 30 outlets there within three years.

Since it bought stakes of Laxo in August 2009, Suning has helped the Japanese retailer to improve its business and narrowed its losses by 1.82 billion yen.