Red Star Macalline Secures Major Investment

Investors: Warburg Pincus, CITIC Private Equity, Fosun Group, Bohai Industrial Investment 
Target: Red Star Macalline
Investment Size: 2.6 billion yuan
Industry: Retail Furniture

Leading home furniture retailer Red Star Macalline announced June 19 receipt of a 2.6 billion yuan capital injection from four major investors: Warburg Pincus Llc, CITIC Private Equity Fund, Fosun Group and Bohai Industrial Investment Fund.

It was the second round of financing secured by Macalline and the largest financing of its kind ever for China's furniture industry.

Warburg Pincus, a U.S. private equity fund, invested US$ 200 million in the company in 2007.

Macalline Chairman Che Jianxin said the company would use the capital to open new chain stores. Plans call for opening three to five stores a year, and 200 chain stores across China by 2020.

Meanwhile, the company is speeding up an IPO process, although a timetable has not been determined.

Established in 1986, Red Star Macalline operates 66 stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other 40 cities in China. Sales in 2009 exceeded 313 million yuan, ranking it first in the nation's retail furniture industry.