(Source: Visual China)
A few days ago, Hangzhou Wamao Liquor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Wamao Liquor Industry") announced that Wamao Liquor has signed a merger agreement with the US SPAC company, officially announcing that it will be listed on NASDAQ in the form of SPAC (special purpose acquisition company), which is one step closer to the US stock "China's first share of sauce wine". For a while, public opinion was in an uproar.
In fact, since 2016 Jinhui Wine (603919. SH), the liquor industry has had seven years without a successful liquor company, and Zhenjiu Lidu (6979. HK) has earned enough eyeballs. But a number of liquor veterans told the titanium media APP, "Wamaojiu high imitation Moutai, hype wine, (we) from the beginning of the industry as a lively view." ”
Titanium Media APP noted that since its establishment, Wahaha Liquor Industry has been regarded as a symbol of Wahaha's rekindling of "drinking" ambitions, but the reality is that Wamao Liquor Industry has been established less than a year, and the company has not even formed a basic outline, even if it is successfully listed through capital means, it may not escape the bleak end of Wahaha's previous "drinking" failure.
Wamao Liquor Industry, which has been established for less than a year, wants to go public in the United States
According to public information, Wa Mao Liquor was established in July 2022 and is mainly engaged in the production, promotion and sales of liquor.
Earlier, Wa Mao Liquor announced that it had formulated an overseas listing plan at the beginning of this year and established China Wa Mao Liquor Group Company in New York, USA, saying that it was actively promoting the preliminary preparations for the listing of US stocks.
On April 14, the news that Wa Mao Liquor intends to go public resounded in the liquor circle. On the same day, the Hua-Zhejiang Education Science and Technology Research Institute reported that Wa Mao Liquor and its behind company, Dali Zongsheng Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zongsheng Intelligence"), Shanghai Lingyuan Investment Management Co., Ltd., held a signing ceremony for Wa Mao listing guidance in Hangzhou, announcing the launch of Wa Mao Liquor Co., Ltd.
A month later, Wamao Liquor signed a merger agreement with the US SPAC to officially go public. According to Wamao Liquor Guanwei, the combined transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, with an estimated equity value of about $500 million.
(Source: Wa Mao Liquor Official WeChat public account)
Zhang Ming, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CCIS Securities, attended the signing meeting and said, "Through a detailed background adjustment and comprehensive assessment of Wamao Liquor, it was decided to sign a merger agreement with Wamao, and the next step will be to fully promote and implement the listing of Wamao Liquor on NASDAQ to achieve the commitment of Q4 2024." ”
Wu Jian, president of Zongsheng Intelligent and vice chairman of Wamao Liquor Industry, claimed at the signing meeting, "Building Wamao Liquor into the first stock of Chinese sauce wine in the US capital market is the wish of Chairman Zongzehou, and it is also the goal of Zongsheng Intelligent and all shareholders of Wamao Liquor Industry." ”
Wamao Liquor believes that SPAC is the most popular financial innovation tool in the US stock market in recent years, as a rapidly developing emerging wine company, Wamao Liquor is a timely choice to achieve full integration with the US capital market through SPA.
Bai Fanglei, founding partner of Lingyuan Capital, who paved the way for the listing of Wamao Liquor Industry, said, "We hope to help wine companies achieve sustainable growth through financial empowerment capital operation and help enterprises obtain excess profits with the help of the capital market." ”
Less than a year after its establishment, it will be listed, touch porcelain Moutai and Wahaha, what is the origin of Wamao wine industry?
Tianyan investigation shows that the actual controller of Wamao Liquor is Zongzehou, and its main shareholders are Zongsheng Intelligent and Hangzhou Zongsheng Commercial Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zongsheng Commercial"). In terms of equity penetration, the shareholding ratio of the above two shareholders is 70% and 30% respectively.
(Source: Tianyancha)
It is worth noting that Zhejiang Wahaha Venture Capital Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Zong Qinghou, chairman of Wahaha Group, holds 15.62% of the shares of Zongsheng Intelligence, and Zong Qinghou is also a director of Zongsheng Intelligence. And Zong Zehou is one of the founders of Wahaha, and he is related to Zong Qinghou brothers.
Obviously, Wamao wine industry and Wahaha are inextricably linked. The promotional poster and its official website during the public promotion of Wa Mao Liquor Industry are marked: "In 2016, Wahaha invested in the establishment of Zongsheng Intelligence, and in 2022, Zongsheng Intelligent invested in the establishment of Wa Mao Wine Industry".
However, on September 28, 2022, Wahaha's official website issued a statement to dissociate itself from Wamao Liquor Industry. The day after Wahaha issued a statement, Wamao Liquor Industry official Weiwei also issued a statement, saying that the company had never used the name "Wahaha" to promote Wahaha.
(Source: Wa Mao Liquor Official WeChat public account)
Paradoxically, the titanium media APP contacted Wamao Liquor Industry, but its front-line sales staff clearly said, "Wamao Liquor is a subsidiary of Wahaha." ”
Whether or not the relationship is clear, Wa Mao Liquor and Wahaha are surnamed "Zong", but they are purely "touching porcelain" with Moutai. Huamou wine industry 53 degrees Guizhou Wanmao wine, the appearance is highly similar to Moutai wine, the official guidance price is also 1499 yuan / bottle. The above-mentioned promotional pictures sent to the titanium media APP by the sales staff of Wamao Liquor show that Wamao wine is exactly the same as Moutai, which is enough to fake the real thing.
(Source: Promotional pictures sent by the sales staff of Wamao Liquor to the titanium media APP)
Not only that, the manufacturers behind Wamao wine industry are also "touching porcelain" Moutai enthusiasts. According to public information, the manufacturer of Wamao Liquor is Changtai Liquor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Changtai Liquor Industry") located in Moutai Town, Kweichow Province, and in 2021, Changtai Liquor was sued by Kweichow Moutai for trademark infringement, and was sentenced to stop selling the infringing products and compensate Kweichow Moutai for economic losses of 59,000 yuan.
Really "drinking" or "cutting leeks"?
From the name to the product, it is all supported by gimmicks, how is the sales of the product? Unfortunately, as of now, Wamao Liquor has not disclosed any operating data.
Titanium media APP noted that the official sales channel of Wamao Liquor was the "Zongsheng Mall" mini program, and there were only two products on it, one was 15-year-old 500ml 53% wine, priced at 1499 yuan; The other is the "Wamao Zhongchuang Store Shareholders" package, which includes a free Wa Mao wine (35,876 yuan), free admission to the Wa Mao Shareholder Training Class (18,000 RMB), and the right to join the Wa Mao social crowd innovation platform.
Strangely, at present, the "Zongsheng Mall" mini program cannot be searched, and there is no trace of Wamaojiu on various online platforms. The above-mentioned salesperson told the titanium media APP, "Wamao Liquor has not opened an online channel and is only sold offline. ”
Through further understanding, Titanium Media APP learned that Wa Mao Liquor Industry not only has no purchase channels, but even no distributors, and the only way to buy is to deliver goods from Hangzhou.
"I've never seen it, and I haven't seen it on the market." Liquor veterans in Henan, Shandong, Sichuan and other places told the titanium media APP. This means that less than a year after the product was launched, the operation of Wamao Liquor in terms of brand and channel has not been carried out.
However, on January 6 this year, Wa Mao Liquor officially announced its cooperation with the China Commercial Liquor Alliance, aiming to open up the Southeast Asian market of Wa Mao Liquor. The domestic market has not yet opened, so why talk about the Southeast Asian market? As of press time, the titanium media APP has asked Wamao Liquor for verification on the above issues, but has not received a reply.
That less than a year after its establishment, it will seek to go public, what is the picture? Zhang Jianbing, president of Wamao Liquor Industry, once publicly stated, "Out of firm confidence in Wamao products and long-term optimism about the soy wine market, in the next five years, the company will use capital power to comprehensively enhance the brand power and product power of Wamao, actively improve the upstream and downstream layout of the industrial chain, from front-end distillery production to sales channels to the end-consumer platform, and go all out to tap and create promising value flashpoints."
If so, it seems that Wa Mao Liquor plans to sell wine through capital operation is obvious.
Can it succeed? At least for now, the market is not very optimistic.
A liquor expert who did not want to be named told Titanium Media APP, "Wamaojiu has been 'hyped' from the beginning, tracing the structure behind it, who the current manufacturer is, what are its advantages, and its relationship with Wahaha have become a mystery, and Wamao liquor industry has not created a good brand image in the early stage." ”
He also believes that "now Wamao Liquor is eager to go public, seeking capital operation methods to quickly complete the whole industrial chain layout such as product research and development, winery production, sales channels, terminal consumption, and market promotion, which is very unrealistic, otherwise there will not be so many failed capital 'drinking' cases." ”
Cross-border capital is difficult to realize the dream of drinking
Although Wahaha cleared his relationship with Wahaha, the same surname "Zong" still led Wahaha to the speculation that Wahaha wanted to "drink" again.
Looking back, Wahaha has been in and out of the liquor industry: Wahaha established Guandi Distillery in 1994, and wanted to cooperate with Jin Liufu in 2004 but failed; By 2013, Wahaha cooperated with Moutai Town Golden Sauce Wine Industry to launch the "Lingsauce National Wine"; In 2021, Wahaha joined hands with the golden sauce wine industry again, and "Zong Shuaijia Sauce Wine" was launched... But unsurprisingly, it all ended in failure.
Titanium media APP combed Wahaha's performance and found that Zong Qinghou's dedication to baijiu came from his 100 billion dream. In 2013, Wahaha's revenue was 78.3 billion yuan, and Zong Qinghou also set a goal of 100 billion yuan in this year. But since 2014, Wahaha's performance has been declining, so the task of "creating another Wahaha" falls on baijiu, and baijiu has become the second growth curve that Wahaha urgently needs to find.
Entry is not an exception, failure is not an exception, and it is difficult to escape the dismal ending.
It is clear that both Wahaha and Wamaojiu have missed the best time to enter the sauce wine. From 2016 to 2019, sauce brands other than Kweichow Moutai accelerated their horse racing and entered a stage of rapid growth. By 2020, the second-tier echelon of sauce wine rose and tasted the dividends of the sauce wine craze. However, since the second half of 2021, the soy wine has gradually cooled down, the industry is in the rapid differentiation of scale and brand, and the soy wine enterprises that do not have scale and brand capabilities have been gradually eliminated by the market.
The most obvious thing is that after experiencing the baptism of sauce wine fever, the sauce wine brand has been overdrawn, the channel inventory is serious, and the problem of price inversion is highlighted. Rao is so, sauce wine is still the best target to attract capital into the market, cross-border capital is not lacking in pharmaceutical, chemical, Internet, agriculture, food and other industries of large companies, such as "Fogalaxy", Vivi shares, Chacha food, Lenovo Group, etc., the competition is extremely fierce.
"At present, the pattern of sauce wine has been formed, and the newly added high-end products have neither brand history, outstanding quality advantages, nor mature channel networks, which can be said to be a typical 'three-nil product', which is difficult to become a climate." Industry insiders pointed out that coupled with the fact that liquor is an industry that requires long-term investment, there is almost no suspense for cross-border capital with speculative psychology. (This article was first published in the titanium media APP, author |.) Yang Huan)