Suning Appliance, one of the largest home appliance retailers in the Chinese mainland, announced Wednesday it will acquire Hong Kong's leading consumer electronics retailer Citicall Retail Management for HK$250 million ($32.24 million), after which Suning will have 22 chain stores in Hong Kong.

The acquisition includes HK$35 million for Citicall's brand, sales network and variable assets, and Suning pays HK$180 million to purchase Citicall's stock goods and fixed assets. This deal will be completed by the end of next March, Suning said Wednesday.

Sun Weimin, president of Suning, explained it's easier and more reliable to acquire Hong Kong companies to tap into the city's appliances market than to purchase land and build stores.

After the acquisition, Suning will have 22 chain stores in Hong Kong with plans to expand to 50 within three years, said Sun. This plan will help Suning take up more than 25 percent of the market share, with four or five flagship stores in Hong Kong's primary trading areas.

Nanjing-based Suning runs a sales network of more than 900 stores in 300 cities in the Chinese mainland and employs 120,000 staff. It posted sales of 85 billion yuan ($12.52 billion) in 2008.
 
Citicall, founded in 1976, is among Hong Kong's largest consumer electronics retailers with 22 chain stores in the special administrative region. It reported its last year's sales at HK$1.3 billion.

Agencies and Dong Minzhi contributed to this story