HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Chinese household appliance retailer GOME Electrical Appliance Holding Ltd. (0493.HK) said Thursday it appointed a senior executive of U.S. private-equity group Warburg Pincus LLC (WBP.XX) as a non-executive director.

GOME said it appointed Sun Qiang-chang, managing director of Warburg Pincus Asia LLC, following the equity group's agreement in late January to invest US$150 million in the Hong Kong-listed retailer.

Warburg Pincus said at a press conference in early February it would advise GOME, which operates about 420 stores in more than 100 cities in China and has a national market share of 5%, on its strategic development and potential mergers and acquisitions.

Under the deal, Warburg Pincus agreed to buy US$125 million worth of GOME's five-year convertible bonds and US$25 million worth of its five-year warrants.

On full conversion of the bonds and exchange of the warrants, Warburg Pincus would hold a 9.71% stake in GOME, while the stake of Wong Kwong-yu, the 36-year-old founder and chairman of GOME, would fall to 59.62% from 66.04%.

Wong was ranked China's fourth-richest person last year by Forbes magazine.

Warburg Pincus has spent more than US$650 million in mainland China since its entry into the country more than a decade ago, with investments in a variety of firms, including Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. (2777.HK), furniture maker Kasen International Holdings Ltd. (0496.HK), Harbin Pharmaceutical Group and Harbour Networks.