On June 19, Laox, the largest comprehensive tax-free company in Japan, disclosed its intention to raise funds through targeted additional shares issuance for GRANDA GALAXY, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suning Appliance Group, and GLOBAL WORKER, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chuben Sangy o Co., Ltd., to 10.093 billion yen. (approximately RMB 642 million), mainly used as working capital for the expansion of the trade business to China and global e-commerce development.
photo caption: Laox Ginza Exitmelsa Store
This marks a milestone of Laox’s 90 years history. After the fundraising, Laox will further increase its investment in the Chinese market and expand its e-commerce business worldwide. Since entering the Chinese market in 2011, Laox has introduced high-quality Japanese goods and services to China through Suning.com’s online and offline platforms and its Tmall flagship store. In the future, Laox aims to become one of the largest suppliers of “Made-in-Japan” goods to better serve more Chinese local consumers, and plans to promote more quality products and consumption experience to other countries and regions through the Belt and Road Initiative.
As the important shareholder of Laox, Suning.com believes that Laox will further strengthen its close cooperation with the company in overseas purchase, commodity procurement, marketing and logistics services, thus increasing the Suning.com’s international influence and attracting more customers who are looking for better-quality goods.
Fully empowered by the smart retail strategy of Suning, Laox has now developed into a comprehensive platform providing retail trade, catering services, lifestyle experience, and travel service while maintaining duty-free shopping services as its core. By the end of 2018, LAOX had 38 retail stores in the Japanese market, which had attracted nearly 2.5 million shop visitors in the year and achieved annual sales of about 120 billion yen.
About Suning
Founded in 1990, Suning is one of the leading commercial enterprises in China with two public companies in China and Japan respectively. In 2018, Suning Holding ranked second among the top 500 non-state-owned enterprises in China with annual revenue of 80.85 billion USD (557.88 billion RMB). With the mission of “Leading the Ecosystem across Industries by Creating Elite Quality of Life for All”, Suning has strengthened and expanded its core business through eight vertical industries: Suning.com, Logistics, Financial Services, Technology, Real Estate, Sports, Media & Entertainment, and Investment, among which Suning.com is listed on the 2017 and 2018 list of Fortune Global 500.
About Laox
Laox has pioneered the Japanese inbound industry since 2009, building up one of the largest networks of general tax-free stores in the country. With safe and excellent products made in Japan and the country’s unique hospitality culture and courteous service all highly valued the world over, the Japanese inbound industry has taken root over the recent years.
Laox aims to expand its platforms to introduce Japanese products, culture and services to the world, taking advantage of the expertise and business sense we have nourished over the years and our strong relations with China. We will continue to strive to grow as a global company that works as a bridge between Japan and China, whose importance in the world will only grow.
source: Suning Holdings Group
