Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), a private equity firm, announced on Thursday it will invest in China's largest liquor store chain, which adds another Chinese consumer asset to its Asia portfolio.
According to a Reuters report, KKR did not disclose the amount of money it is investing in VATS, a company founded in 2005 that operates more than 270 liquor stores, which covers all provinces in the Chinese mainland."
Annual sales of China's white liquor are approximately $27 billion, KKR points to data from China's National Bureau of Statistics as proof in a news release. The consumption of bottled baijiu (white liquor) has risen at 20 percent on a compounded annual growth rate in the past five years.
The report says that private equity firms have long sought to tap China's massive consumer market, though few global investors have been able to buy into the sector so far.
The VATS deal signifies KKR's second consumer acquisition in China, the company earlier invested in China Modern Dairy.
