NEWS
CHINA’S BIGGEST PRODUCER CHANGYU TO ACQUIRE 55% STAKE IN THIS BORDEAUX CHATEAU
By David Ma
22-3-2019
China’s biggest wine producer Changyu Pioneer Wine Company is to acquire a 55% stake in Château Liversan in the Haut-Medoc of Bordeaux from current owner France’s Advini SA through equity injection into a new joint venture company.
Changyu announced that it will inject 100% equity of Château Mirefluers, worth €577million, in exchange for 55% stake in the new joint venture to be named L&M Holdings.
Advini, which is France’s only listed wine company, will inject 100% equity of Château Liversan, worth €557million, in exchange for 45% stake in L&M Holdings to be registered in France.
After the transaction, Changyu and Advini will respectively hold 55% and 45% of the joint equity of Château Liversan and Château Mirefluers through the joint venture.
This is Changyu’s third property acquisition in France after purchasing Cognac maker and merchant Maison Roulett-Fransac in 2013 and Château Mirefluers in 2015.
Château Liversan was classified as Bordeaux Cru Bourgeois in 1932. It is located in the area of Saint Sauveur in the Haut-Medoc next to Pauillac, and is only one mile away from Chateau Lafite Rothschild. It has 103 hectares of land of which 51 hectares are under vines with an average age of 30 years producing 350,000 bottles a year.
It was acquired by Advini from the Lapalu family in 2016 together with other properties in the Medoc and Haut-Medoc areas, the company has since been controlling 7 percent of Bordeaux Cru Bourgeois production with a capacity of 150,000 cases.
Despite being the biggest producer of domestic wines in China, Changyu has pursued the strategy of purchasing overseas wineries and ship wines home in response to the rising popularity of imported wines in China.
Changyu General Manager Sun Jian said they have conducted detailed studies on the terroir of Château Liversan and believed that a considerable part of its vineyards can produce even higher quality wine.
He also said by expanding Changyu’s portfolio of French wineries, the company can reduce operation costs by integrating the managements making them more economical to run.
(the writer can be contacted at: DavidMa@thewinechronicle.com)
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