The Japanese government has approved Suning's plan to purchase a stake in Japanese home appliance retailer Laox Co., China's leading retailer said on Tuesday.

Suning Appliance Co., China's second-largest home appliance retailer by number of stores, will buy a 27.36% stake in Laox for 800 million yen ($8.46 million), becoming its largest shareholder, according to a July 25 filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Suning will also hold an option to increase its stake in Laox up to 29.33%.

Laox's shareholders have approved the transaction, which will soon be completed, Suning said.

Laox informed Suning of the Japanese government's approval on July 24, according to Caijing on Tuesday.

Suning, with 819 retail outlets in China, had earlier said it will buy 10.66 million Laox shares at 20 yen (21.2 cents) each between Jan. 15, 2010 and Jan. 14, 2013.

Suning, which reported a 2.2 billion yuan ($322 million) net profit in 2008, aims to become China's top electronics retailer within three years - a position now held by Gome.

Laox, with 14 stores in Japan, booked 40.6 billion yen ($429.5 million) in sales in the year to March.

On July 27, Suning shares rose 0.63% to 16.03 yuan ($2.35) in Shenzhen.

(1 yen = $0.010578; 1 yuan = $0.146409)

China Japan