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Suning to raise US$311m for expansion

(Bloomberg)
Updated: 2007-04-23 09:38

Suning Appliance Co., China's second-biggest home appliance retailer, plans to raise 2.4 billion yuan ($311 million) selling shares to finance expansion.

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The company plans to sell 73 million new yuan-denominated shares for at least 33.3 yuan each to 10 institutional investors, it said in statement published in the China Securities Journal on April 21.

The appliance retailer, based in the eastern city of Nanjing, said it plans to use the funds raised to open 250 stores nationwide. The company plans to more than triple its stores to 1,500 by 2010,Chief Executive OfficerSun Weimin told reporters last year.

Retailers in China are adding stores to fend off competition as the country's consumer market attracts overseas companies including Best Buy Co., the biggest U.S. consumer-electronics retailer. Suning is tapping demand for the company's shares, which surged fivefold in the past year

The company raised 1.2 billion yuan from a share offer last year.

Suning's shares rose 2.82 percent to 37.98 yuan in Shenzhen April 20. The stock has jumped 67 percent this year.