(Yicai Global) July 22 -- Chinese e-commerce giant JD.Com has acquired the remaining 54 percent stake in home appliance retailer Five Star Appliance for CNY1.5 billion (USD208 million) to widen its offline sales channels.

The Beijing-based firm bought the stake in mid-July, the Paper reported today.

The e-commerce company has been boosting its real-world presence this year by purchasing USD100 million worth of Gome Retail Holdings's convertible bonds in May.

In April 2019, JD.Com bought a 46 percent stake in Jiangsu province-based Five Star Appliance for CNY1.3 billion, also providing the former controlling shareholder with a CNY1 billion loan. At that time, it disclosed that its strategic goal is to create an offline version of JD.Com. Next month, it invested in unmanned store concept Lenovo Lecoo and in July, it bought a 9 percent stake in Beijing Digital Telecom, the nation's largest chain of physical telecoms stores.

Founded in 1998, Five Star Appliance has more than 700 stores in seven Chinese provinces. Last year, it made 4 percent less in sales revenue at CNY12.5 billion (USD1.8 billion) from a year earlier.

The home appliance seller has had an online store on JD.Com since 2017. Since 2018, the parties have collaborated to integrate offline with online marketing and sales.

Editor: Emmi Laine