Chinese Sanpower has acquired an 89% stake in House of Fraser, valuing it at £480m. Retail-Week.com takes a look at the story behind Sanpower.

  • Sanpower is a Nanjing-based conglomerate run by chairman Yuan Yafei, who founded the business in 1993.
  • Listed on the Shanghai stock exchange, Sanpower owns or controls more than 100 companies across multiple industries including finance, retail, media and healthcare with a workforce of about 60,000 employees.
  • Within retail, Sanpower owns Chinese computer chain Hisap, which has more than 500 outlets and over 10,000 employees, and department store group Nanjing Cenbest.
  • It also owns IT security firm Guangzhou Jinpeng and publications China Newsweek and China Business Times.
  • Outside of China, it operates Israeli private healthcare and homecare services company Natali.
  • Its total assets are worth more than RMB 50bn (£4.8bn) and it has a total annual turnover of more than RMB 60bn (£5.8bn). Sanpower said that it expects its total assets to reach RMB 80 bn (£7.7bn) and annual revenue to hit over RMB 150 billion (£14.4bn) by 2015.
  • The conglomerate acquired House of Fraser through its subsidiary Nanjing Cenbest - a chain of luxury Chinese department stores which focuses on fashion and accessories.
  • Nanjing Cenbest was founded in 1952 and was the first publicly listed commercial company based in Nanjing.
  • In March, Sanpower acquired the International Finance Center Tower, a mixed-use property in Nanjing’s Xinjiekou business district. Including the IFC, Nanjing Cenbest department stores and other properties, Sanpower owns more than half of the total commercial area of Xinjiekou district.
  • On the House of Fraser acquisition, Yafei called the deal “the largest cross-border direct acquisition by a Chinese non-state-owned A-share listed company, and the largest overseas acquisition in the retail sector by a Chinese business.”
  • The founder of Sanpower also said he could see significant opportunities to develop the business further and replicate the already successful model in international markets, in particular in China”. Reports have suggested that it will roll out House of Fraser under the banner Oriental Fraser.
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