Home appliance giant Midea beat Italy's MTS Group yesterday by buying a stake in rival appliance maker Little Swan in Wuxi, where the latter is based.

According to the deal Midea inked with Wuxi Guolian, a substantial shareholder of Little Swan, Midea paid 1.68 billion yuan for a controlling 24.01 percent stake in Little Swan, China's No 2 washing machine producer.

Sichuan Changhong, another important player in the domestic appliance market, also submitted a bid but later bowed out.

It will be a challenge for Media to restructure Little Swan as the latter used to be state-controlled, a senior expert in the washing machine sector said. Midea needs to integrate different corporate cultures. How to coordinate its 3 washing machine brands, Midea, Royalstar and Little Swan, is also a key question facing the company.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese (http://www.china-cbn.com/s/n/000004/20080227/020000072227.shtml)

(China.org.cn February 27, 2008)