China retailer to buy into Japan's Laox

Chinese retail chain Suning Appliance plans to buy a stake in struggling Japanese consumer electronics retailer Laox for 800M yen ($8.4M). Suning will buy 66.7M shares in Laox at 12 yen each, giving it a 27.36% stake that would make it Laox's largest shareholder, the Chinese firm said filed to the Shenzhen Exchange. Suning said it reached basic consensus with Laox on the purchase, but a formal agreement has yet to be signed. Suning, China's 2nd-largest home appliance chain, said the deal was part of its long-term strategy and exposure to Japan's electronics retail market would help it be more competitive in areas like pricing and customer service. "The planned investment in Laox will give it more knowledge about the int