Kingfisher To Buy China’s Second Biggest Home Retailer

Kingfisher, the British owner of B&Q, China’s biggest home retailer, has agreed to buy OBI Asia.

B&Q China currently operates 22 stores andis the largest foreign-owned company in that country’s growing DIY market. OBI is the second-largest western home improvement retailer in China with 13 stores and a further five due to open in 2005. The transaction is subject to local and national government approvals and is anticipated to be completed later this year.