Customized Home Furnishing Industry:
1. Meinimei signs in Xinfeng, Shaoguan, expanding its production base
On the afternoon of May 23, Li Weiquan, Managing Director of Meinimei, was invited to attend the Shaoguan City Development Promotion Conference for Connecting with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Guangzhou), hosted by the Shaoguan Municipal People's Government, and signed the project on site, marking another solid step in Meinimei's brand strategy expansion. More than 700 participants attended the conference, including enterprise representatives from the Greater Bay Area and officials from relevant departments in Guangzhou and Shaoguan.
2. Sophia and Gree reach strategic cooperation to jointly build smart homes

On the morning of May 6, the strategic cooperation signing ceremony between Sophia Home and Gree Electric was successfully held in Zhuhai. Witnessed by Ms. Dong Mingzhu, Chairwoman and President of Gree Electric, and Mr. Ke Jiansheng, President of Sophia Home Co., Ltd., Mr. Hu Wenfeng, Assistant to the President of Gree Electric, and Mr. Wang Bing, Vice President of Sophia, signed the strategic cooperation framework agreement on behalf of the two companies. As leaders in their respective industries, the two sides will launch in-depth cooperation and jointly create smart and healthy homes.

3. Annual sales exceed RMB 200 million as Shangpin Home Collection digs deeper into the integrated decoration market
Shangpin Home Collection released the brand image of its integrated decoration brand Santaibird at its Guangzhou Whole-House Integrated Decoration Experience Center, signaling that Shangpin's integrated decoration segment has entered a new stage. It is understood that Santaibird Integrated Decoration is an upgraded model based on the all-inclusive integrated decoration model, with improvements in design, products, construction, and after-sales service. Shangpin's integrated decoration business was launched in 2017, providing an all-inclusive model of "soft furnishings + basic renovation + main materials." Empowered by five systems, it has laid a solid foundation for large-scale construction delivery. Last year, the annual sales of Shangpin's integrated-decoration direct stores in Guangzhou, Foshan, and Chengdu exceeded RMB 200 million.
4. KUKA Home plans to invest RMB 1. billion to build a customized smart home production base
Recently, KUKA Home announced that it plans to invest RMB 1,006,566,200 of self-raised funds in the KUKA Customized Smart Home Manufacturing Project. The project covers approximately 159 mu of land. Construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2019, with the first phase expected to be completed by the end of 2020 and put into production in the first quarter of 2021. Full capacity is expected to be reached before the end of 2026, at which time the project is expected to achieve production capacity of 10 million square meters of customized home furnishing products and operating revenue of RMB 2. billion.
5. Sophia director and deputy general manager Wang Biao resigns
On May 31, Sophia (002572.SZ) announced that Wang Biao, the company's director and deputy general manager, had recently resigned for personal reasons and would no longer hold any position in the company after his resignation. As of May 31, Wang Biao held 614,000 shares of the company.
Wang Biao, born in March 1974, holds a university degree and is a postgraduate in service. He began working in December 1997 and successively worked at Yuehai Decorative Materials (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Guanshun Decorative Materials Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Liheng Wood Manufacturing Co., Ltd. In February 2007, he joined Guangzhou Ningji Decorative Industry Co., Ltd. as General Manager of the Marketing Center. Since 2010, he has served as Executive Director of Guangzhou Ningji Trading Co., Ltd.; since June 2017, he has also served as Director and General Manager of Sophia HUAHE Door Industry Co., Ltd.; since March 25, 2016, he has served as President of the Guangdong Customized Home Furnishing Association; and since December 6, 2016, he has served as Executive President of the Customized Home Furnishing Committee of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce Furniture & Decoration Chamber of Commerce.
6. Sino-German Hardware Innovation Center established in Germany

On May 21, 2019, the unveiling ceremony of the Sino-German Hardware Innovation Center was grandly held at the Koelnmesse Exhibition Center in Cologne, Germany. Attendees included Shi Senglan, Chairman of the China National Hardware Association, and Zhao Dongmei, Deputy Secretary-General; Volker Irle, CEO of the German Association of the Modern Kitchen Industry, and Cai Hongyi, Managing Director for Greater China; Zhang Meng, Vice Consul of the Chinese Consulate General in Dusseldorf; a Vice President of Koelnmesse, the organizer of INTERZUM; Xu Jie, CEO and Board Representative of Essen University of the Arts, and President Stecker; and Dorian Kurz, founder and CEO of the German KurzKurz design studio, among others. The event included a formal unveiling ceremony for the Sino-German Hardware Innovation Center, signing ceremonies for the German R&D centers of some excellent enterprises, and strategic partner signing ceremonies, with more than one hundred participants attending.

Upholstered Home Furnishing Industry:
1. DeRUCCI opens its Flushing flagship store in New York
On May 11, DeRUCCI's "Building Dreams Globally" program received more good news as the DeRUCCI New York Flushing flagship store opened grandly. This is DeRUCCI's eighth store in the United States and is located in Flushing, New York, with an area of about 450 square meters. DeRUCCI's pace of globalization is accelerating. It now has more than 4,000 specialty stores worldwide, and in 2019 it will also expand into France, Russia, the Netherlands, Indonesia, and other countries.
2. Sleemon replies to the Shanghai Stock Exchange inquiry letter as weak film-market conditions hurt cross-industry expansion
On May 31, Sleemon issued an announcement replying to the post-review inquiry letter regarding its 2018 annual report. In 2015, Sleemon acquired 100% equity in Zhejiang Greentown Culture Media Co., Ltd. with cash of RMB 720 million. The company has since been renamed Zhejiang Shengxi Huashi Culture Media Co., Ltd., or Shengxi Huashi. Sleemon suffered a substantial loss in 2018, including a loss of RMB 50.3534 million in its film and television business and RMB 99.4117 million in its furniture business. Specifically regarding the film and television business, the announcement stated that due to changes in market conditions and policies in the film and television industry, the originally planned issuance schedule was not implemented as planned, and some new dramas and reissued series were not broadcast on the corresponding platforms, seriously affecting Shengxi Huashi's revenue and profit in 2018.
Major home furnishing events in May 2019:
1. Red Star Macalline receives Alibaba investment of RMB 4.3. billion
On the evening of the 15th, Macalline announced that its controlling shareholder, Red Star Holdings, had successfully issued exchangeable bonds that were fully subscribed by Alibaba for RMB 4.3594 billion. After the future bond-to-equity conversion, Alibaba will obtain about 10% of Macalline's A-shares. Macalline's A and H shares both rose by more than 3% on the 15th. Regarding the investment, the company said that Red Star Holdings and its related subsidiaries are leading integrated operators of furniture, building materials, and home furnishing malls, shopping centers, and other businesses in China, while Alibaba has advanced business philosophy and technical support in the field of new retail. After friendly consultation, the two sides agreed to carry out business cooperation in furniture, building materials, home furnishing malls, shopping centers, and other business areas.
2. Youpon Ceiling exits its controlled subsidiary Youxuan Electric through capital reduction
On May 7, Youpon Ceiling issued an announcement on reducing capital and exiting a controlled subsidiary. On November 10, 2017, Zhejiang Youpon Integrated Ceiling Co., Ltd. signed the Equity Transfer, Subscription, and Capital Increase Agreement for Zhejiang Youxuan Electric Co., Ltd. with natural person Li Ruishan. The company acquired Li Ruishan's 20.00% equity in Youxuan Electric, corresponding to registered capital of RMB 2. million that had not yet been paid in, effectively acquiring his RMB 2. million contribution right at zero consideration. After the transfer was completed, the company undertook the capital contribution obligation. At the same time, the company subscribed RMB 12.857143 million of newly added registered capital in Youxuan Electric for RMB 27.3443 million. After the capital increase, Youxuan Electric's registered capital changed to RMB 22.857143 million. After this transaction, the company held 65.00% of Youxuan Electric, while Li Ruishan held 35.00%.
3. Der Flooring establishes an overseas supply base in Indonesia
On May 11, the DER timber processing and engineered wood flooring global supply base established by Der Flooring in Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, was officially unveiled. The base can utilize 700,000 mu of forest resources and is one of the world's largest timber processing and manufacturing bases. It not only includes abundant, high-quality timber resources, but also has advanced mechanized equipment, making it able to provide high-quality timber resources for China and the global market. This move will help Der Flooring fully integrate Indonesia's forestry resource advantages with its production and processing advantages, empowering products through an improved overseas supply chain system. The high-quality timber resources will not only serve the domestic market, but after capacity expansion they can also meet the demand for high-quality solid wood flooring in developed countries in Europe and the United States, becoming another important milestone in Der Flooring's globalization strategy.
4. Tubaobao Wardrobe signs a strategic cooperation agreement with Xiangsheng Group for wardrobe fit-out projects
According to news on May 14, Tubaobao signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Xiangsheng Group for fully finished housing. Xiangsheng Group is a diversified industrial group integrating real estate development, town development, construction and installation, property services, hotel tourism, commercial operations, and other business sectors. Up to now, the group's business has spread across Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Fujian, Guizhou, Liaoning, and Shandong. The focus of this cooperation is to create a new generation of green and healthy homes for the owners of Xiangsheng Yunxi Xinyu. Tubaobao has always been committed to green development and environmental protection. Based on E0-grade premium Tubaobao boards and supported by a people-oriented and humanized design philosophy, it truly provides consumers with one-stop whole-house customized home furnishing services.
5. NVC Lighting plans to sell most of its China business
On May 16, leading lighting company NVC Lighting announced that it was negotiating with potential investors to sell most of its China business while continuing to expand its overseas business. Earlier, NVC Lighting stated that in order to achieve sustainable development, it had formulated a strategy in 2018 to gradually transform from a manufacturing enterprise to a channel-oriented enterprise. In 2018, NVC Lighting planned to sell NVC Optoelectronics, the core lighting assets of the "NVC" brand in China, to ETI for RMB 4. billion. This is another time NVC Lighting has planned to sell its China business. Industry insiders believe that under the influence of management infighting, the company's development has somewhat stagnated in recent years. The 2018 annual report shows that the company achieved revenue of RMB 4.905 billion during the reporting period, up 20.7% year on year, while net profit turned into a loss of RMB 328 million compared with a profit of RMB 314 million in the same period of the previous year.
6. Der Future increases capital in Suzhou Baidesheng by RMB 415 million
On May 27, Der Future announced that its board of directors had agreed to use RMB 415 million of raised funds to increase the capital of its wholly owned subsidiary Suzhou Baidesheng Smart Home Co., Ltd., or Suzhou Baidesheng. It also agreed that Suzhou Baidesheng would use RMB 306 million of that amount to increase the capital of its controlled subsidiary Suzhou Padesen New Materials Co., Ltd., for the implementation of the investment project "Annual Production of 80,000 Sets of Intelligent Complete Furniture."
7. Smart home company ORVIBO completes Series C financing
In morning news on May 10, ORVIBO announced that it had completed RMB 130 million in Series C financing, with investors including Midea Real Estate and Red Star Macalline. After the financing was announced, ORVIBO said that its revenue had maintained growth of more than 100% over the past three years and that it had achieved full profitability. According to EqualOcean Home, ORVIBO has currently built a whole-house smart home system model centered on its MixPad smart control panel product, integrating an entry point, an AIoT platform, and software-hardware application services, and it can connect more than a hundred kinds of IoT electrical products such as HVAC systems, smart clothes drying devices, lighting, and fresh-air air-conditioning systems.
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