Gree Electric Appliances Inc., China’s largest air-conditioner maker, is buying electric vehicle company Zhuhai Yinlong New Energy Company to diversify its business beyond home appliances. Gree, based in the same southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, will finance the acquisition of Yinlong through a share sale and plans to release more information on April 4, in line with disclosure requirements, it said in a statement to Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Sunday. The company did not disclose a value for the purchase, according to Bloomberg. Gree aims to dominate the air-conditioning market globally and pursue “technology-oriented diversified development”, according to its 2014 annual report. The company made about 85% revenue from manufacturing air-conditioners and parts, with 10% coming from other household appliances, including water heaters, according to the report. Yinlong, which started manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles in 2009, now has a line of seven electric passenger cars and 18 electric buses, according to its website. Gree competes with Midea Group Company and Haier Group Corporation in the world’s most-populous nation and has factories in Brazil and Pakistan.
