Wong to use Gome proceeds to boost land bank
Wong Kwong-yu, the controlling shareholder of Gome Electrical Appliances Holding, will use some of the proceeds raised from placing HK$2.34 billion worth of his shares last week to boost the land bank of his property flagship, which is preparing to list in Shanghai, according to the company's management.
Mr Wong, the mainland's richest man, will also use the proceeds to expand the network of the Hong Kong-listed firm's parent, Gome Group, said Gome president Chen Xiao.
Gome, the mainland's largest consumer electronics retailer, operates 654 stores on the mainland, while Gome Group owns a further 260 outlets.
Mr Wong last Friday placed 170 million Gome shares to investors at HK$13.74 per share, representing an 8.03 per cent discount to the stock's close on Thursday.
Gome shares fell to as low as HK$13.06 when they resumed trading yesterday following suspension on Friday, before closing down 8.84 per cent at HK$13.62.
Mr Wong's stake in Gome fell after the placement to 42.84 per cent from 48.06 per cent. Mr Chen bought some of the shares and raised his stake to 11.72 per cent from 11.57 per cent.
The listing of Mr Wong's property business 'won't be long', Mr Chen said yesterday in Beijing, where he spoke to the media at a video-conference following the share placement.
Mr Chen is a former chairman of China Paradise Electronics Retail, the country's third-ranked electronics retailer, which Gome bought in November last year for HK$5.27 billion in cash and shares.
The mainland property business of Mr Wong includes his flagship Pengrun Property. Mr Wong established Pengrun, a unit of his Eagle Investment Group, in 1996.
Mr Wong has said he plans to inject Gome Group's unlisted outlets into the Hong Kong-listed arm. Following the injection, Gome, a red chip, plans to sell A shares, according to Mr Chen.
Meanwhile, Dell, the world's second-largest seller of personal computers, said it had struck a deal with Gome Group to sell its computers and notebooks through the group's network.
Gome Group will start selling Dell products in 50 stores next month and expand to more stores in the first half of next year. Until now, Dell's mainland sales have been carried out by telephone and the internet.
