Produced by: Sina Finance Listed Company Research Institute
Author: Langtou Diet / Hao Xian
On July 12, China Kweichow Moutai Distillery Group Co., Ltd. announced that it plans to transfer 82% of the shares held by Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Xijiu Co., Ltd. to the Guizhou Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission for free. Commissioned to perform the responsibilities of the investor.So far, Xijiu has finally completed its divestiture from Maotai Group.
In fact, in June this year, Xijiu withdrew from the list of shareholders of Kweichow Moutai Group Finance Co., Ltd., which was regarded by the market as a signal of Xijiu's divestiture from Maotai Group.
On July 1, Zhang Deqin, a "veteran" of Xijiu, was appointed as the secretary of the party committee and chairman, and the company name was also upgraded from Guizhou Moutai Distillery (Group) Xijiu Company to Guizhou Xijiu Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd.
Is Xijiu still far from an independent IPO?
Coach change, name change, spin off from Maotai Group
According to the official website of Guizhou Xijiu, on July 11, Zhang Deqin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Guizhou Xijiu Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Xijiu Investment Holding Group"), and Wang Diqiang, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and General Manager, arrived at the system. Investigate in Jiu Jiu, Jiu Workshop, Zhongdu Sewage Treatment Plant, Huangjinping Wine Production Area and other places to learn more about wine production, product quality, safety and environmental protection.
This news conveys an important message that Zhang Deqin has served as Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Xijiu Investment Holding Group.According to media reports, at the cadre meeting of Xijiu Company held on July 11, the former Guizhou Moutai Distillery (Group) Xijiu Company was upgraded to Guizhou Xijiu Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., and Zhang Deqin was transferred to Xijiu Investment Holding Group. Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Board.
Zhang Deqin is a key figure in the development history of Xijiu. In 2010, Zhang Deqin was transferred to Xijiu Company as chairman, general manager and deputy secretary of the party committee.Zhang Deqin seized the opportunity at the end of the golden decade of liquor, launched a new high-end sauce wine "Cellar 1988", and began to deploy in the national market.In 2010, the revenue of Xijiu exceeded 1 billion yuan, and since then it has grown all the way to 5.6 billion yuan in 2018 when Zhang Deqin left office.
It can be said that Zhang Deqin established Xijiu's brand status as a well-known national sauce wine in one fell swoop.At this point in time, whether it is Zhang Deqin's return or Xijiu's departure from Maotai Group, the signals released are obvious.
"Hierarchical competition", the biggest obstacle to Xijiu's IPO, has finally been lifted
In 2020, the sales of Xijiu will exceed 10 billion yuan for the first time. In 2021, it will achieve a sales revenue of 13 billion yuan and a sales target of 17.7 billion yuan in 2022.In 2021, there will be a total of 19 listed liquor companies in the A-share market, of which 7 will have a revenue of more than 10 billion yuan. The revenue of Xijiu is comparable to that of Gujing Gongjiu.According to the "14th Five-Year Plan" of Xijiu, the annual growth rate of 15%-20% will be achieved. According to this growth rate, the sales volume will exceed 20 billion yuan in 2025.
From the perspective of production capacity, the production capacity of Xijiu Jiangxiang Luxiang will reach 40,000 tons. The first-phase technical transformation project will be put into operation in 2022. It is estimated that the new production capacity will be 18,000 tons, and the target production capacity by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period is 100,000 tons.
In terms of sales scale and production capacity, Xijiu is the second largest sauce wine company after Maotai.
In recent years, under the leadership of Kweichow Moutai, soy sauce wine has gradually taken the lead, all kinds of capital have poured into the sauce wine industry, and soy sauce wine companies have also been eager to move. With the support of local governments, they have proposed expansion plans.Large-scale sauce and wine companies are planning to go public, while small and medium-sized wineries choose to join forces with strong capital or be acquired.
In mid-2020, Langjiu and Guotai were the first to disclose the prospectus, and speculation about who would become the second listed sauce wine company after Maotai was rampant.At the end of February 2021, the "14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of Guizhou Province and the Outline of Long-term Goals for 2035" mentioned that Guizhou should aim at "10 billion output value and 100 billion market value", cultivate and improve Xijiu, Guotai, Jinsha, Zhenjiu, Dongjiu and other key enterprises with strong influence in the country will accelerate the promotion of enterprises to go public, and cultivate a number of national and regional well-known enterprises.
In May this year, Guizhou Province released a "List of Listed and Listed Reserve Enterprises in Guizhou Province in 2022", which included 9 liquor companies and 3 liquor supporting companies.
However, compared with other sauce and wine companies, Xijiu's IPO road has been more tortuous, and it is facing the "hard injury" of peer competition.
From 2012 to 2019, Moutai Group and Guizhou State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission kept throwing out the listing plan of Xijiu. There were various ideas about the listing location and equity structure, but they all came to an end.
On October 28, 2019, Zhong Fangda, assistant to the general manager of Moutai Group and chairman of Xijiu Company, said to the public, "Due to the relevant regulations of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which involve horizontal competition, the same group cannot have two listed companies, and Xijiu is planning to go public. Termination." This marked the end of Xijiu's listing plan.
Since then, there have been constant rumors that Xijiu will be stripped from Moutai Group, but this involves the coordination of interests of different subjects.Food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng once said that for Xijiu, a separate listing is the most hopeful result, which is conducive to the overall development of the company, but Moutai does not want this, which involves the overall performance of Moutai Group.Guizhou State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission advocated the spin-off and listing of Xijiu.
This free transfer of equity means that "horizontal competition", the biggest obstacle to Xijiu's IPO, has finally been lifted, and it also shows Guizhou SASAC's determination to promote Xijiu's listing.However, it is not easy for Xijiu to embark on the road to an independent IPO.
Independent IPO or backdoor?
In recent years, with the soaring popularity of liquor companies, not only Guizhou is supporting the listing of liquor companies, but other provinces have also launched their own support lists.Henan Province has launched the Henan Liquor Revitalization Plan since 2017. This year, the "Henan Province Liquor Industry Revitalization and Development Action Plan (2022-2025)" was issued, which mentioned the need to support the listing of old wines and Venus Beer on credit.Xifeng Wine is also included in the list of reserve listed companies issued by Shaanxi Province.
However, the road to the listing of liquor companies has been quite "bumpy". Since the listing of Jinhui Liquor and Weilong shares (rights protection) on the A-share market in 2016, so far no liquor company has successfully IPOed.Langjiu and Guotai, which disclosed the prospectus in mid-2020, have withdrawn their applications and chose to voluntarily terminate the IPO.
Obviously, the regulatory authorities have a stricter attitude towards the listing of wine companies!On June 12, 2020, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange issued the "Interim Provisions on the Issuance and Listing Application and Recommendation of Enterprises on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange", stating that in principle, 12 types of industry enterprises including "wine, beverage and refined tea manufacturing" are not supported. Listed on the GEM.
In this context, backdoor has become another option, and the relevant "shell companies" have received special attention from the market.
Xifeng Wine, which has been planning to go public since 2009, has been unsuccessful in its IPO for many years. In June 2022, Shaanxi Province issued a list of backup companies for listing, including Xifeng Wine.Previously, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Shaanxi Province took over the 15% equity of Xifeng Wine held by CITIC, and intervened in the capital operation of Xifeng Wine.
In view of the previous difficult listing process of Xifeng Wine, secondary market investors were once committed to finding backdoor targets for Xifeng Wine. Baoguang Co., Ltd., Universal Printing, and Qujiang Cultural Tourism have all become "scandal objects", and Qujiang Cultural Tourism has even been on the interactive platform. Debunked.
In fact, Xijiu is also facing the same problem, and its "scandal objects" include Guisheng, Guiguang Network, and *ST Tiancheng (rights protection).From February to July 2021, the stock price of *ST Tiancheng rose by more than 400%. Some investors went to the official interactive platform of the Shanghai Stock Exchange to ask *ST Tiancheng, "The company is located in Zunyi, the most developed place for wine production in China. The current situation of the company, Can you consider looking for a high-quality wine company to restructure?" *ST Tiancheng responded, "Thank you for your attention and suggestions, please refer to the company's announcement for specific information." Until June this year, investors still asked questions on the interactive platform "Excuse me, has your company been backdoored by wine companies (including but not limited to Xijiu, Guotai, and Renhuai Jiangjiu)?" *ST Tiancheng denied it.
However, the road to backdoor is also not easy. The Red Star Erguotou, which was listed on the backdoor in the previous attempt to save the country by curve, ended in failure.
