好时收购金丝猴背后的扩张野心

    中国经济的繁荣发展以及中国消费者对于知名洋品牌的热衷都不能确保外来品牌一定就能在中国市场获得成功。好时公司（Hershey）最近以5.84亿美元收购糖果制造商上海金丝猴食品公司（Shanghai Golden Monkey Food Company）就是一个例子，它足以证明外来者拓展中国市场的艰难。

    金丝猴食品远不能与好时公司相提并论。这家中国公司2013年的预计销售额为2.25亿美元，而好时公司预计销售额为70亿美元。好时拥有好时之吻（Kisses）巧克力；金丝猴有红豆味奶糖。而这正是好时在中国面临的难题：它著名的牛奶巧克力在中国卖得并不太好，因为中国消费者倾向于购买除巧克力之外的其他糖果。

    中国市场的巨大潜力让好时做了一些前所未有的尝试。收购金丝猴之前，好时从未进行过超过2亿美元的收购。今年夏季，好时在中国推出了悠漫（Lancaster）品牌香纯奶焙糖，这是它近120年历史中首次在美国之外的市场推出一个新品牌。好时一位发言人上周四接受《糖果》杂志（Confectionery News）采访时称，公司的目标是到2017年，让中国成为继美国之后的第二大市场。

    简单计算一下就能判断，好时进入中国市场付出了不菲的代价。有些交易告诉我们，中国市场对于西方公司是多么重要，就算是好时这样的美国知名品牌也不例外（好时85%的销售额来自美国），而收购金丝猴就是这样一笔交易。

    据两家公司称，金丝猴今年的销售额有望达到2.25亿美元。如果我们假定金丝猴的利润率与全球最大的巧克力市场——美国最具标志性的一个品牌好时的水平相似，金丝猴今年将获得约2,250万美元的利润。当然，这是一个慷慨的假设。

    好时这笔5.84亿美元的收购意味着它支付的价格是金丝猴利润（使用净利润数字）的26倍，是销售额的2.6倍。这样的收购估值没有高得离谱，但的确不便宜。为了让这宗收购物有所值，好时将依靠金丝猴在中国的分销平台以及经营经验，这些都是好时必须掏钱才能买到的东西。（财富中文网）

    For proof that the Chinese market is difficult for outsiders, a place where even a booming economy and a love for top foreign brands isn't enough to guarantee success, look to Hershey's (HSY) recent $584 million deal to buy candy maker Shanghai Golden Monkey Food Company.

    The Golden Monkey is no Hershey. Its estimated sales of $225 million in 2013 compare to Hershey's estimated $7 billion. Hershey has Kisses; Golden Money has red-bean milk candies. And that's part of Hershey's problem in China: Its famous milk chocolate doesn't work well in the country, where consumers tend to prefer candies besides chocolate.

    The promise of the Chinese market has Hershey doing things it has never done before. Before Golden Monkey, Hershey had never spent more than $200 million on an acquisition. And this summer, for the first time in the company's nearly 120-year history, it launched a new brand outside the U.S., a condensed milk candy in China called Lancaster. A company spokesperson told Confectionery News Thursday that Hershey aims for China to become its second-largest market, after the U.S., by 2017.

    Some simple math suggests Hershey isn't getting into China on the cheap. The acquisition is the type of deal that shows how important the Chinese market is to Western companies, even those like Hershey, a famously domestic brand (with 85% of sales coming from the U.S.)

    Golden Monkey may post sales of $225 million this year, according to the companies. If we assume Golden Monkey boasts profit margins similar to those at Hershey, one of the most iconic brands in the biggest chocolate market in the world, the U.S., then Golden Money will earn around $22.5 million this year. That's a generous assumption.

    Hershey's $584 million deal means it is paying more than 26 times earnings for Golden Monkey (using net earnings) or 2.6 times sales. That's not an outrageous M&A valuation, but it's not cheap either. To make the deal worthwhile, Hershey is dependent on Golden Monkey's distribution platform in China and the company's Chinese know-how, things that Hershey had to buy.