Leading Spirit to pay $40m for TV factory

Electric appliance maker Leading Spirit (Holdings) Co is to pay about $40 million for a controlling stake in a mainland television manufacturer, chairman Wong Shi-ling says.

The company applied to spin off its electrical home appliances division - which makes televisions, air-conditioners, washing machines and personal computers - at the start of the year.

Mr Wong said the purchase of a 60 per cent interest in the state-owned television factory in Liaoning province would open the way for similar purchases in the future.

The factory, which produces 300,000 television sets a year, would provide Leading Spirit with a manufacturing base in northern China. It already has a production facility in Jiangmen, Guangdong province.

'We hope to finalise the acquisition by July 1 and will look for further targets,' Mr Wong said.

He said the company was also seeking to set up two television joint ventures in Chongqing and Chengdu, in Sichuan province.