Best Buy Friday announced it will purchase Jiangsu Five Star Appliance, China’s fourth-largest appliance and consumer electronics retailer for $180 million.
The acquisition gives Best Buy 136 stores in eight provinces, including those surrounding Shanghai, along with Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Best Buy will hold a majority stake, with the remainder owned by Five Star.
Best Buy had previously announced it would open a retail store under its own name in Shanghai, but details of that store were not available, the company said. The company estimates the Chinese appliance and electronics market at about $10 billion annually.
In 2005, Five Star had revenue of nearly $700 million, according to Best Buy. The company has about 12,000 employees.
