Another food safety scandal made headlines in China last week, this time when the dairy unit of Shanghai’s Bright Food was fined after its products were found swirling at the center of a recent string of controversies. But unlike previous scandals, this one involved a company with major global aspirations, as reflected by Bright’s recent string of overseas acquisitions. The fact that China’s first global food conglomerate may be a food safety laggard is hardly a message that Beijing should want to send the world, and will only make skeptical Westerners wary of Chinese food products. To prevent that from happening, which would hurt not only Bright but also future Chinese global aspirants, Beijing should seriously consider taking stronger actions against this globally minded company.
Tag Archives: Bright Food
Bright Food: China’s First Big Consumer Brand? 光明食品：中国第一大消费品牌？
Bottom line: Bright Food is embarking on a risky but potentially rewarding global acquisition strategy, with a 50-50 chance of becoming China’s first major consumer brand.
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ Gree, Bright Food, Fosun in New Global Moves 格力电器、光明食品和复星集团全球新动向
◙ Bright Finally Finds Tasty M&A in Australia’s Manassen 光明食品终於觅得“佳偶”
◙ Nestle, Bright Food Cross-Border M&A Look Sweet 雀巢、光明食品跨境并购前景看好
News Digest: May 4, 2012 报摘： 2012年5月4日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 4. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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◙ Alibaba’s Tianmao Enters Household Appliance Market, Signs Up 800 Merchants (Chinese article)
◙ Bright Food Buys 60% of U.K. Cereal-Maker Weetabix (English article)
◙ China’s Q1 Group Buy Transaction Volume Up 234% YoY (English article)
◙ Spreadtrum Communications (Nasdaq: SPRD) Announces Q1 Results (PRNewswire)
◙ Smartphone Start-up Xiaomi Says Monthly Revenue Passed 1 Bln Yuan (Chinese article)
◙ Latest calendar for Q1 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)
Gree, Bright Food, Fosun in New Global Moves 格力电器、光明食品和复星集团全球新动向
Overseas expansion was a major theme in the closing days of the first week of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, with top officials from 3 very different companies in the home appliance, food products and investing sectors all discussing ambitious global plans for the year ahead. Gree Electronic Appliance (Shenzhen: 000651), China’s largest maker of air conditioners, detailed ongoing plans to expand in the tough but lucrative US market; while Bright Food (Shanghai: 600597) said it is in talks to buy a French winemaker; and lastly Fosun International (HKEx: 656) said it’s eying investments in a number of overseas markets, especially in Europe where valuations are low as the market confronts its ongoing debt crisis. From my perspective, the Fosun and Bright Food plans both look like smart and interesting moves for reasons I’ll discuss shortly, while the Gree plan looks a bit more questionable and is likely to run into problems. Let’s look quickly at the 3, starting with Gree, whose President Dong Mingzhu, one of China’s most successful female business leaders, said the company has started to build a plant in the US after opening a branch office in California last year. There’s not much else in the report, except for Dong’s belief that strong US infrastructure and investing incentives will offset the market’s higher costs. While such a plan certainly conforms with China’s “go-global” policy, I expect Gree will quickly discover the higher costs and stiff competition are a potent combination that will eventually lead to the failure of this ambitious project. Moving on to Bright Food, Vice President Ge Junjie said the company is in talks to buy a French winemaker, following its deal last year to buy Australia’s Manassen Foods for $382 million. (English article) I really like this latest move, as China is fast becoming a nation of wine drinkers, as younger, more affluent urbanites look for lower-alcohol alternatives to traditional Chinese liquors, most notably the baijiu that is a favorite of many from the older generation. Finally there’s Fosun, whose Chairman Guo Guangchang, one of China’s most successful private investors, said his firm is looking at acquisition targets in Germany and Britain this year, attracted by low valuations of many companies as they struggle with a weak regional economy. Last year the company paid $120 million for 9.5 percent of a Greek company, Folli Follie Group, showing it is serious about investing abroad. (English article) I previously said that another regional investor, HNA Group, was a very entrepreneurial company that could become one of China’s first big global investors without ties to the central government (previous post), and I think that Fosun also fits this description, and could be a player to watch closely in the next 2 years.
Bottom line: Global expansion plans by Bright Food and Fosun International look like strong bets in the year ahead, while a US expansion by Gree Electric looking more problematic.
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ Fosun Pharma Offers Window to China Healthcare Reform
Bright Finally Finds Tasty M&A in Australia’s Manassen 光明食品终於觅得“佳偶”
After nearly a year on the M&A trail, Shanghai’s Bright Food appears to be on the brink of finally landing its first overseas purchase with a deal to buy Manassen Foods, an Australian maker of chocolates and bread. (English article) Terms of the deal, still being negotiated, would see Bright, China’s second largest food group, buy 75 percent of the Australian company for around $416 million, valuing Manassen at about $550 million. People who follow Chinese companies will recall that Bright’s name has popped up at least a half dozen times over the last year in conjunction with various international M&A, with Bright most recently chasing another Australian company, Treasury Wine (Sydney: TWE), just last month. (previous post) Bright has said on numerous occasions it is interested in acquiring overseas brands, so from that perspective this deal should come as no surprise. It’s hard to say too much about this purchase yet, as no financials are being provided at this stage. But on the surface at least, itl looks pretty good for Bright. Manassen looks like a nice mid-sized company, based on the market valuation, and should easily be affordable for Bright, which earlier this year raised $1 billion in a bond offering and share sale for one of its units. (previous post) Bright’s purchase of a 75 percent stake will give it comfortable control of Manassen, which presumably is profitable. There are still a few concerns, most notably the question of whether Bright, in its obvious eagerness for overseas M&A, has overpaid for Manassen. Bright will also have to be careful in terms of managing this company: cross-cultural problems could easily emerge if it tries to exercise too much control; but on the other hand, a too hands-off approach could also pose problems if Manassen managers believe their rich new Chinese ownership gives them a license to take too many risks.
Bottom line: Bright Food’s $416 million purchase of Australia’s Manassen Foods looks good initially, marking a manageable step for Bright onto the global food stage.
在并购路上寻寻觅觅将近一年後，上海光明食品集团公司似乎终於要锁定第一起海外并购了。光明食品将收购澳大利亚巧克力与面包品牌Manassen Foods。根据仍在洽谈中的交易协约，光明食品将以4.16亿美元收购Manassen Foods公司75%的股份，公司给予後者的估值为约5.5亿美元。留意中国公司新闻的人应该记得光明食品过去一年来在多起跨国并购中均多次出现，最近一次就在上个月，光明食品有意求购另外一家澳大利亚公司Treasury Wine<TWE.AX>。光明已经多次表示有兴趣收购海外品牌，所以从这个角度来看，公司此次收购Manassen并不意外.目前还不宜对交易过多评头品足，因为具体财务细节还没有提供。不过，Manassen从市场估值来看像是一个不错的中型企业，对光明而言应该也买得起。收购Manassen公司75%的股份可让光明轻松掌握控股权。但问题还是有的。最突出的一个就是，一心追求海外并购的光明食品对Manassen的出价是否过高。光明食品在公司管理方面也需特别留意：光明如对Manassen控制过火，很容易出现跨文化问题。但从另一方面来说，如果Manassen管理层认为东家的大款容许自己承担更大风险，光明太过坐视不理也不大好。
一句话：光明食品4.16亿美元购澳洲食品企业初看起来还不错，对於光明走向全球舞台算得上是过得去的一步。
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ Nestle, Bright Food Cross-Border M&A Look Sweet 雀巢、光明食品跨境并购前景看好
◙ Bright Food Sets Table for More M&A Bids 光明食品：高举并购大旗
◙ Unilever Helps China See the Light Behind Free Markets 联合利华帮助中国向市场经济迈进
