Suning to purchase HK's retailer Citicall
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Chinese mainland's home appliance giant Suning Appliance Co. announced Wednesday it would purchase a leading consumer electronics retailer in Hong Kong, Citicall, with 35 million Hong Kong dollars (4.5 million U.S. dollars).
"We plan to open 50 stores in Hong Kong within three years, and take up more than 25 percent of the market share," said Sun Weimin, president of Suning.
He said the acquisition would be completed by the end of next March.
"By then, Suning will officially enter the Hong Kong market, and take over all Citicall's products, businesses and staff," he said.
"We choose this moment to enter Hong Kong because it is a global market place, although the competition is very fierce there," he added.
Suning, headquartered in eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, runs a network of more than 900 stores in 300 cities on the mainland and employs 120,000 staff. It posted sales of about 85 billion yuan (12.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2008.
In June this year, the company bought a 27.36-percent stake in Japanese electronics retailer LAOX Co., becoming its biggest shareholder.
The Hong Kong's Citicall Retail Management Ltd., founded in 1976, reports annual sales of 1.3 billion Hong Kong dollars (166.7 million U.S. dollars).
