Carlyle invests in Chinese flooring business

The Carlyle Group has invested 230 million yuan ($27.5 million; €22.6 million) to acquire new shares in Shanghai Anxin Flooring (Anxin), China’s largest manufacturer and distributor of solid wood flooring.
 
Carlyle will inject an initial $20 million, and invest the remaining amount over the next two years, according to the firm. The investment will support Anxin’s launch of a new brand ’Wei Guang,’ which features engineered and solid wood flooring products from Russia, Southeast Asia and Africa and will be marketed in China.
 
Wayne Tsou, head of Carlyle Asia Growth Capital Group said in the statement: “Anxin is currently the only end-to-end vertical integrator enjoying high margin and strong growth in China despite volatility of raw material supply. Its visionary move into Russia strengthens its production capabilities while diversifying supply risks stemming from expanding logging restrictions globally.”
 
Last August, Anxin acquired 40,000 square meters of land on the Sino-Russian border in northeastern China to build a wood processing plant, scheduled to commence operations in 2007. Russia holds 20 percent of the world’s forests and is key source of timber supply, according to the statement.
 
The latest deal follows a $25 million investment in Credit Orienwise, a private Chinese credit guarantor to small and medium size enterprises, and Carlyle’s first Asian pharmaceutical bet via a $20 million investment in India’s Claris Lifesciences, both announced in March.