GD Midea Electric Appliances Co, China's largest publicly traded maker of household goods, bought a 24-percent stake in Wuxi Little Swan Co to become the washing-machine maker's biggest shareholder.
Midea paid 1.68 billion yuan (US$235 million) for 87.7 million Little Swan shares, raising its stake to 29 percent, it told the Shenzhen Stock Exchange yesterday. The stock was bought from Guolian Group.
Guangdong-based Midea plans to expand as higher wages and China's surging real-estate market boosts demand for refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners.
Retail sales in China, the world's fastest-growing major economy, rose 17 percent last year.
Midea bought the stake at an average of 19.16 yuan a share, according to Bloomberg News. That's a 13-percent discount to Little Swan's 21.90 yuan price on January 11.