Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai Yongle Electric Appliance Co Ltd, the city's largest home appliance retailer, announced today a take-over of 32 stores from the ailing Taiwan-based Tsann Kuen Trans-national Group for 140 million yuan (US$17 million), the biggest deal in the home appliance sector, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.
Yongle will make the payment in three installments before next January 10.
Tsann Kuen has 32 stores on China's mainland, 16 in Shanghai, one in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, and 15 in Fujian Province, according to its headquarters in Shanghai.
The company is willing to sell all of them to Yongle, but it is up to Yongle whether all the stores will be purchased.
Unable to reverse its two years of declines in business, Tsann Kuen has decided to sell the ailing store business.  It had contacted other leading domestic home appliance retailers, including Gome and Suning, before striking the deal with Yongle, the Shanghai Morning Post report said.
Since its entry into the mainland in late 2003, Tsann Kuen, billed as the Taiwan island province's largest home appliance retailer, has adopted a rapid expansion strategy with its store network, but the strategy has encountered problems.  After the sale, the company plans to shift its focus to home appliance development and manufacturing.