(Yicai) Sept. 23 -- Jason Furniture has appointed a long-term senior executive at Midea Group as chairman, nine months after the Chinese maker of upholstered chairs and sofas was acquired by a company owned by the son of the founder of the white goods giant to help boost performance.

Kuang Guangxiong replaces Gu Jiangsheng, whose family originally set up the furniture maker, as chair of the Board of Directors and head of the Board’s strategic committee, Hangzhou-based Jason Furniture said yesterday. 51-year-old Gu, who joined the family business in 2000 and who successfully took the company public in 2016, will remain on the Board and as a member of the committee.

Kuang was vice president at Infore Group, an investment firm under He Jianfeng who is the son of Midea founder He Xiangjian, before taking on this role. The 45-year-old had worked at Foshan-based Midea for over 16 years in various posts, including financial general manager at Midea’s US arm and head of finance at Midea's joint venture with German industrial robot manufacturer Kuka.

Infore bought a 29.4 percent stake in Jason Furniture, which makes sofas, desks, chairs and other furniture, in January for CNY8.9 billion (USD1.3 billion). The Gu family still holds a 12.6 percent stake in the company as second-biggest shareholder.

Jason Furniture didn’t perform well in the first half after Infore took over. Net profit tumbled 3 percent year on year to CNY896 million (USD126.9 million), while revenue stayed flat at CNY8.9 billion (USD1.2 billion), according to its latest financial report.

Jason Furniture’s share price [SHA:603816] closed up 2.7 percent today at CNY23.21 (USD3.23), almost 40 percent below the price that Infore paid.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor