A weekend shuffle of Jiangsu Little Swan Group's shareholders may eventually help China's leading washing machine maker achieve its long-term plan of overseas listing.

 

CITIC Trust & Investment Co Ltd bought a 30 percent stake in Little Swan, taking the shares over from private investment company SVT Group, thus becoming the largest single shareholder of the company.

 

Industry insiders say that the share transfer will help ease SVT's debt problems, which started last November.

 

SVT spokesperson Zhu Junyu refused to reveal the price of the share transfer deal, but said cooperating with CITIC Trust & Investment, will benefit the future development of Little Swan.

 

"(The deal) will also help achieve Little Swan's strategic plan of overseas listing," Zhu said.

 

SVT Group has drawn up a timetable for Little Swan's overseas listing, but it has not made the information public.

 

After the share transfer, SVT still has a controlling right over Little Swan, as SVT Group and its parent company Xi'an Tongyou Science & Technology Investment Co Ltd still jointly hold more than 52 percent of Little Swan.

 

Little Swan was one of the leading home appliance brands in the 1990s. However, the company fell into financial trouble in 2002. Its listed arm Wuxi Little Swan Co Ltd floundered until 2003.

 

"The company has enjoyed rapid and stable growth in the recent two years when SVT Group bought a controlling stake from Wuxi State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission," said Xu Yuan, former vice president of Little Swan Group.

 

According to Xu, the company's five senior executives, including former chairman Zhu Dekun and Xu himself, resigned from their positions after the share transfer.

 

"We believe younger leadership will drive the company better," Xu said.

 

Pu Jian, general manager of CITIC Trust & Investment, will be chairman of Little Swan Group, and the former executive president of SVT Group will act as vice chairman of Little Swan Group and chairman of the listed Wuxi Little Swan Co Ltd.

 

"Currently, the share transfer will not have a direct impact on the listed company," said Zhu.

 

Share prices of Wuxi Little Swan climbed up after the share transfer news.

 

Its Shenzhen-listed A shares rose 4.81 percent to close at 3.92 yuan (48 US cents) yesterday.

 

Its B shares grew 2.04 percent to HK$2 (25 US cents).

 

The company's sales volume in 2005 increased by 30 percent year-on-year, while sales value rose by 42 percent over 2004.

 

Yan Xiaoqun, chairman of SVT Group, says Little Swan will soon build a global manufacturing base for its washing machines.

 

Little Swan is currently one of the top three washing machine manufacturers in the world, and the leader in the Chinese market.

 

Its products are exported to over 40 countries and regions including key markets like the United States.

 

(China Daily March 7, 2006)