Diageo’s China Baijiu Bid: Aiming for the Middle 帝亚吉欧瞄准中国中档白酒市场
It’s not often that there’s a good chance to write about the Chinese spirits market, which could get a nice and much-needed shake-up as European giant Diageo (London: DGE) prepares to take control of a decidedly mid-tier Chinese brand of baijiu — the most common form of Chinese liquor — called Suijingfang. (English article) This deal will see Diageo, which already owned a stake in 
the spirits’ maker, publicly listed Sichuan Chengdu Quanxing Group, take majority control of the company in a bid to take it onto the national stage. In my view, China is a market that’s really ready for a good, solid mid-tier brand, which is what Diageo specializes in through its stable of solid mid-range brands like Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff. The market is already home to a handful of super high-end brands, most notably Maotai and Wuliangye, which sell for ridiculously high prices of hundreds of dollars per bottle, and are usually pulled out when a host wants to impress his guests at a banquet but are seldom used when friends go out drinking because they’re simply too expensive. After those brands, the market is highly fragmented, with local names usually commanding most of the mid-end market. If Diageo plays its cards right, it should be lining up Shuijingfang, which is already attractively packaged and has some name recognition, as a brand of choice for white-collar Chinese when they go out for a night of drinking. If that works, I could even see Diageo eventually exporting this liquor as an exotic brand for foreigner tipplers looking for a fiery taste of China without having to pay hundreds of dollars for it.
Bottom line: Diageo could use its experience as a savvy seller of mid-tier spirits to take a big slice of the fragmented China market with its new purchase of one such brand.
对我来说，好好写写中国白酒市场的机会并不常有。现在有消息说，英国帝亚吉欧洋酒集团<DGE.L>即将成功入主中国中端白酒品牌水井坊<600779.SS>，这可能会给中国白酒市场带来一次有益和必要的冲击。帝亚吉欧已经持有水井坊第一大股东全兴集团49%的股份，现在中国商务部已批准帝亚吉欧进一步收购全兴集团4%的股权，从而使帝亚吉欧成为全兴的控股股东，并间接成为水井坊的第一大股东。在我看来，中国的中端白酒市场实在需要一个叫得响的品牌，而拥有Johnnie Walker和Smirnoff等中端名酒品牌的帝亚吉欧正好是这个领域的专家。虽然中国市场上已有一些高端白酒品牌，如天价的茅台<600519.SS>和五粮液<000858.SZ>，但这些酒在平常朋友聚会的场合很少喝，因为太贵了。除了这些高档酒之外，中国的白酒市场其实非常零碎，各地的中端市场通常被本地品牌占据。帝亚吉欧公司如果策略得当，就有望把已经拥有精美包装和一定知名度的水井坊打造成中国白领晚间聚饮的白酒首选。若果真如此，那麽水井坊甚至有可能出口，让外国人不必花大价钱就可以品味火辣的中国白酒。
一句话：帝亚吉欧公司可以利用自己在中档酒类市场的经验和此次收购，在中国白酒市场打出一番天下。
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