London, England, December 11, 2006--The Financial Times has reported that Home Depot is preparing to spend $100 million on a majority stake in Chinese chain HomeWay in a deal that will be unveiled in China this week.
Citing people close to the deal, the newspaper said the move into China's home improvement market was the result of more than two years of planning.
HomeWay was established 10 years ago and runs 14 Do-It-Yourself stores in northern China, according to the Financial Times.
As for Home Depot, it already operates a large outsourcing business in China, with a network of more than 500 suppliers, the newspaper said, adding that about 10 percent of its products come from the country.
