Source | Zebra Consumption ID | banmaxiaofei Author | Yang Wei
For Jiannanchun, the return of Mianzhu state capital to the shareholder table marks a new era of joint governance by private and state capital, which is expected to help the brand's second rise. In the past decade or more, the golden brand of Jiannanchun was once trapped in internal turmoil, missing the golden period of development, and even had a sense of helplessness as expressed in the poem: "Jiannanchun's color is still unruly, touching the sorrowful person to the edge of wine." With the increased voice of state capital in the company, helping to repair the brand, strategy, and channels, this bottle of wine may become more and more fragrant. Since Qiao Yu took charge of Jiannanchun Group three years ago, he has gradually pushed the company to shed its burdens and enter a period of stable development, but his burden is still heavy. On the one hand, he urgently needs to improve the dependence on the big single product Shuijingjian; on the other hand, he needs to integrate channels and increase revenue scale. And the "running-in" with state capital will be another new topic for him. State Capital Returns A share change has brought Jiannanchun, which has been left behind for a long time, back into the spotlight. The industrial and commercial change information on September 12 shows that the Mianzhu State-owned Assets Affairs Center (hereinafter referred to as Mianzhu State Capital) subscribed 137.16 million yuan in capital contribution, obtaining 14.5066% equity in Sichuan Jiannanchun (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Jiannanchun Group), second only to Sichuan Tongsheng Investment, becoming the second largest shareholder of the company. After the completion of the subscribed capital contribution, the registered capital of Jiannanchun Group increased from 808.34 million yuan to 945.5 million yuan. This time, Mianzhu State Capital did not invest real money but used debt as a capital contribution method to enter Jiannanchun Group. Up to now, the source of this debt has not been officially disclosed, but speculation inside and outside the industry has been rife. Twenty-two years ago, Qiao Tianming led the restructuring of Jiannanchun Group. In this massive restructuring process, state capital shareholders exited, and private capital successfully took control of Jiannanchun, one of the "Five Golden Flowers of Sichuan Liquor." After the restructuring, intangible assets such as the "Jiannanchun" trademark were in the hands of state capital. But soon after, Sichuan Mianzhu Jiannanchun Distillery transferred the Jiannanchun trademark to Jiannanchun Distillery Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Jiannanchun Group. For a long time, the ownership of this trademark has been disputed. Until 2024, the related disputes over this trademark accelerated, seemingly to be settled through judicial channels. From November to December last year, the Deyang Intermediate People's Court heard trademark contract disputes between Mianzhu State Capital and Jiannanchun Distillery Co., Ltd., Jiannanchun Hotel, and other enterprises. The cases focused on whether the trademark transfer contract was legal and valid. In July this year, Jiannanchun Group and Jiannanchun Distillery Co., Ltd. initiated trademark administrative litigation with the National Intellectual Property Administration and the Mianyang Jiange Chamber of Commerce, scheduled for public hearing on July 28. In light of these lawsuits, did Mianzhu State Capital win the case or reach a pre-trial mediation, and convert the trademark transfer fee into debt, thereby re-entering the Jiannanchun system and gaining corresponding voice? It is strange that this time Mianzhu State Capital subscribed capital contribution with debt, while other shareholders such as Sichuan Tongsheng Investment did not simultaneously increase capital, resulting in their equity being passively diluted, which may indicate that state capital and the original shareholders have reached some kind of tacit understanding. Before Mianzhu State Capital's subscription, Sichuan Tongsheng Investment held 73.76% equity in Jiannanchun Group, which dropped to 63.0619% after the capital increase, still the controlling shareholder of Jiannanchun Group, with Qiao Tianming as the actual controller of the group. Speculation on State Capital Increase This return of Mianzhu State Capital did not bring real money to Jiannanchun Group, but under the special background of trademark disputes, it can solve historical legacy issues and avoid further internal friction of the brand. For the Jiannanchun brand, internal friction began after the 2012 employee stock ownership plan was released, causing internal turmoil due to issues such as repurchase prices. With Qiao Tianming being investigated in 2015, the company's management had internal strife, and the old management Yang Dongyun and Qiao Tianming's son Qiao Yu began a seven-year internal struggle. This once-renowned Sichuan liquor brand was inevitably affected to some extent. In 2023, the Qiao Tianming case was settled, and the court ordered the recovery of his illegally divided state assets and return them to Mianzhu local, which created an excellent opportunity for Mianzhu State Capital to enter. On the one hand, this is related to the local development of the liquor industry. Deyang has been promoting the development of a 100-billion-yuan liquor industry cluster in recent years, and Jiannanchun Group is an important leading enterprise in the production area of Deyang, and the two sides have already started cooperation. In early September this year, Deyang State-owned Capital Operation Platform - Deyang Holding Group and Jiannanchun Group reached cooperation in trade circulation, equity investment, and other aspects. On the other hand, the return of state capital to the table is not only to strengthen the voice and influence of state capital but also to assist and guide Jiannanchun Group onto the fast track of development. If we consider it more realistically, it should be to lay out for cultivating high-quality tax sources locally. As early as 2007, Jiannanchun Group was a leading enterprise in Mianzhu, with annual tax payments as high as 970 million yuan, accounting for half of the local fiscal revenue, and forming related supporting industries locally, contributing no less than one-third of employment. In December 2024, the Deyang Federation of Industry and Commerce released the 2024 Deyang Top 50 Non-public Enterprises list, with Jiannanchun Group ranking first in tax payment among non-public enterprises in Deyang, with revenue of 16.94 billion yuan and total tax payment of 7.54 billion yuan. In the eyes of Xiao Zhuqing, an independent commentator on Chinese liquor, Mianzhu State Capital has strengthened its voice, directly endorsing Jiannanchun, which is helpful for Jiannanchun's second rise in terms of strategy, financing, brand repair, and dealers. The 30 Billion Blueprint During the more than ten years of turmoil, Jiannanchun has drifted away from the top camp of the liquor industry in the era of "Maotai, Wuliangye, Jiannanchun." It was not until Qiao Yu ended the internal struggle and became the vice chairman and CEO of Jiannanchun Group that he led the company into a period of stable development. During this period, Qiao Yu also launched a catch-up trend. At the beginning of his tenure, he set a revenue target of 30 billion yuan by 2025. In today's view, this is almost an impossible task. Despite the company's repair of the market and brand, the industry adjustment and sudden changes in the external market environment have brought considerable operating pressure to the company. Public data shows that from 2021 to 2024, the company's operating revenue was 15.42 billion yuan, 15.75 billion yuan, 16.94 billion yuan, and 16.361 billion yuan respectively, and growth has hit a bottleneck. The liquor industry is experiencing the Matthew effect of the strong getting stronger. In 2024, Kweichow Moutai's operating revenue exceeded 170 billion yuan, Wuliangye's operating revenue was nearly 90 billion yuan, and Luzhou Laojiao and Shanxi Fenjiu both had revenue exceeding 30 billion yuan. The gap in revenue scale is only one aspect; Jiannanchun's shortcomings in brand, market, and product structure are gradually emerging. The liquor market pattern is diverging. The high-end market share is held by Kweichow Moutai, Wuliangye, etc.; in the sub-high-end market, Fenjiu, Yanghe, and Langjiu have long been fiercely competitive. The Jiannanchun brand has always relied on the core big single product Shuijingjian to hold the 400 yuan price band. Although Shuijingjian has annual revenue of 10 billion yuan, under the influence of price inversion and e-commerce, the terminal selling price of Shuijingjian is under challenge. In recent years, the company has made frequent moves in product structure, successively launching thousand-yuan-level product matrices such as Royal Jiannanchun and Bronze Mask Edition, as well as products for the mid-to-low-end market such as Mianzhu Daqu, Gongnong Wine, and Jinjiannan series, but the market response has not been significant. Greater pressure lies in the digestion of production capacity. For the 30 billion blueprint, Jiannanchun Group invested 3 billion yuan to build the Datang National Liquor Ecological Park, with a total investment of 1.667 billion yuan for the second phase, which will add 30,000 to 50,000 tons of high-quality Qu liquor and 25,000 tons of storage capacity annually after reaching full production. How to digest these new production capacities in the era of stock liquor has long been a difficult problem for Qiao Yu.