Changyu winery looks to boost Chinese wine imports through overseas M&A

 Chinese wine imports: China’s Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine is looking to expand its network of overseas wineries and to drive up imports into its home market over the next five years after last year’s acquisition of a majority stake in a Spanish Rioja producer, a senior executive said this week.  The company is currently  in talks  about the possible acquisition of mid-sized wine producers in Australia and Chile and is also looking to build on acquisitions in France, where it owns a cognac vinyard and a Bordeaux-based winery, general manager Sun Jian said.
The company, which makes over 90 % of its money in China, wants to push overseas sales of its Chinese and international brands to 30% by 2020, according to Jian. It is planning to use last year’s $40m purchase of a 75% stake in Spain’s Marques del Atrio winery in the Rioja area as a blueprint for further expansion. “Our aim is for Marques del Atrio to be the number one Spanish wine in the Chinese market, the wine of reference,” Jian said in the course of an interview in Madrid.
China is one of the world’s fastest-growing wine markets and saw consumption per capita double between 1995 and 2010 to 1.2 litres. For its part, Spain became the world’s biggest wine exporter by volume in 2014 although in revenue terms it still lags behind  France and Italy, as most its sales are concentrated in the unbranded bulk wine segment.
Changyu is also going to use its newly acquired Spanish base to launch its own  Noble Dragon brand onto the Spanish market, Jian confirmed. “We’re targeting the Chinese community, and especially through the distribution networks of restaurants and hotels, but also local consumers who are interested in trying new wines.”