Healthcare Co. Ltd., headquartered in Rugao, China, and owner of the Mlily USA brand, has signed a letter of intent to purchase San Diego-based Mor Furniture for Less.
The company expects to pay more than $68.4 million for the 36-store home furnishings retailer, which has estimated annual sales of more than $310 million. The deal was expected to close at the end of October. Healthcare plans to operate the business separately, with a different team of executives reporting directly to leadership in China.
“The direct day-to-day contact with consumers through Mor’s vibrant retail locations gives us the opportunity to gather critical information about consumer shopping behavior in the U.S.,” said James Ni, chair and chief executive officer of Healthcare. “Direct consumer interaction will help us hone our OEM product development and better serve our growing network of customers throughout the world.”
Healthcare will acquire the chain from Mor Furniture founder Richard Haux Sr. and a number of other members of the Haux family. Haux founded the company in 1977 as a small waterbed store. Today, Mor operates stores in seven states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.
The Mor acquisition will be the second for Healthcare in the past 18 months. Last year, Healthcare acquired Maxcolchon, a Spanish bedding manufacturer and retailer, with 57 stores across Spain.
