Business Activities News
- Gome has no detailed plans to buy rivals
Date: 5-Jun-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
GOME Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd., China's largest electronics retailer by revenue, said Friday it doesn't have any detailed plans at present to buy other rivals amid speculation of more consolidation in China's intensely competitive electronics retail sector.
In April, Suning Appliance Co., China's second-largest electronics retailer, said it had been in talks through an intermediary about merging with another firm in the sector, Beijing-focused Dazhong Electronics Co.
Dazhong's marketing manager Luo Lian said at the time that her company was in preliminary discussions on forms of cooperation, including a merger or a stake sale, with companies that included Suning and Gome.
Asked Friday if Gome would consider merging with rivals like Suning, Gome executive director Lisa Du said: 'It's a sensitive issue. Looking from many (aspects), the time isn't ripe.'
Speaking on the sideline of a press conference, she added that Gome doesn't have detailed plans to acquire other targets in the sector.
Last year, Gome merged with China Paradise Electronics Retail Ltd., China's third-largest electronics retailer by revenue, while Best Buy Co. of the United States bought a majority stake in Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co., at the time the sector's fourth-biggest firm.
Du also said Friday that Gome chairman Huang Guangyu, her husband, has no timetable yet for listing his private Beijing-based property flagship, Pengrun Property, on the Hong Kong stock market.
Local media reported recently that Gome is planning to restructure a series of Pengrun Property assets in the next two or three years, before listing them, probably in Hong Kong.
Du said Gome, which raised around HK$1.2 billion (US$153.65 million) in a Hong Kong initial public offering in September 2004, also hopes to list yuan-denominated A shares on a mainland exchange. She didn't elaborate.
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