A celebrity consumer brand sells its controlling stake for 68 million yuan.

The new retail liquor chain brand Jiubianli may officially change its owner.

According to a report from the Venture Capital Daily, the reporter learned from the Alibaba Judicial Auction Platform that approximately 51% of the equity in Jiubianli held by Henan Qiaohua Business Management Co., Ltd. was auctioned in three separate transactions today. It was ultimately won by Gongqingcheng Chuangdongfang Huake Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as "Chuangdongfang Huake") for a total of 68.3996 million yuan.

As shown on the Alibaba Judicial Auction Platform, the equity up for auction was split into three independent lots, corresponding to 29.81%, 18.19%, and 3.02% of Jiubianli's shares respectively. The lot of 2.2684 million shares was sold at a 31.7% premium after nine rounds of bidding, while the other two lots were sold at the reserve price. The total starting price of the three lots of equity was 67.1396 million yuan, which is only 70% of the total appraised value of 95.9 million yuan. The final transaction price was only a slight 1.9% higher than the starting price.

An equity penetration analysis shows that Chuangdongfang Huake is mainly funded by Tianyin Holdings. Tianyin Communications, a wholly - owned subsidiary of Tianyin Holdings, holds a 32.31% stake in the fund with a capital contribution of 420 million yuan. The fund is managed by Chuangdongfang Investment.

It is worth noting that Chuangdongfang Huake, under the management of Chuangdongfang Investment, has been actively involved in the liquor industry for a long time. It not only holds 4.66% of the shares in Jiuxian.com but also controls 60% of the equity in "Jiukuai Dao", a new retail platform under Jiuxian.com. The latter has opened more than 500 stores in over 200 cities across the country, providing a natural synergy basis with Jiubianli.

01

Founded in 2010, Jiubianli was once a star enterprise favored by capital. When the three founders, Wang Xue, Shen Libo, and Zhang Li, opened the first six stores in Zhengzhou, they became the first liquor chain brand in China to focus on the "convenience" attribute with the pre - warehouse model of "getting safe liquor in 20 minutes".

This innovative model quickly opened up the market. From 2015 to 2018, Jiubianli received three rounds of financing: Series A investment from Everbright Securities, Series B investment of hundreds of millions from Legend Holdings, and joint support from Henan State - owned Assets Management and Renhuai Wine Investment. It reached its peak in 2016 when it was listed on the New Third Board. Subsequently, its business expanded to more than a dozen provinces and cities, and at its peak, it had nearly 400 stores and more than 6 million members.

The turning point came in 2021 when Jiwo Group under Legend Holdings sold all its shares for 298 million yuan, and Henan Qiaohua took over as the largest shareholder. However, this equity change did not bring a turnaround but instead marked the beginning of turmoil: Founder Wang Xue gradually reduced his stake until he exited. Although Henan Qiaohua consolidated its control with a 52.98% stake in 2023, its actual controller, Yu Zengyun, was investigated for suspected fund - raising fraud in 2024 and went missing. The management team changed leadership twice in two years, further exacerbating the operational turmoil, and Jiubianli's performance declined sharply from 2024.

02

The latest financial data shows that in 2024, Jiubianli's revenue was 1.679 billion yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 3.77%. Its net profit turned from profit to a loss of 109 million yuan. In the first half of 2025, the downward trend intensified. The revenue was 598 million yuan, a year - on - year plunge of 37.1%. The net loss widened to 63.11 million yuan, and the debt - to - asset ratio climbed to 74%.

In addition, as of the first half of 2025, Jiubianli's monetary funds were only 14.0516 million yuan, and its unrestricted monetary funds were 9.7076 million yuan. At the same time, the company's short - term borrowings were 20.0219 million yuan, and the total liabilities were 330 million yuan. The company's debt - to - asset ratio was close to 74%.

"The core value of Jiubianli lies in its pre - warehouse network close to the end - users and its large membership base. This is not simply a shell resource but a reusable industry infrastructure," said Cai Xuefei, the general manager of Zhiqu Marketing and an expert in the liquor industry, in an interview with the Venture Capital Daily. He pointed out that Chuangdongfang Huake's acquisition is not accidental, and its strategic intention is to integrate assets in the liquor distribution field. Jiubianli and Jiukuai Dao will achieve synergy at the channel and supply - chain levels, and the offline channel advantages of Tianyin Holdings, the major limited partner, are also expected to complement the invested companies in product development and distribution.

In Cai Xuefei's view, this equity transaction is a microcosm of the accelerating integration in the liquor distribution industry. Currently, the Chinese liquor market has entered a deep - adjustment period. The traditional multi - level distribution model is inefficient, and among the nearly one - trillion - yuan market, 9.4 million distribution enterprises are highly fragmented. Under the Matthew effect, it is inevitable for large enterprises to improve their bargaining power and competitiveness through mergers and acquisitions. This industry concentration trend is expected to continue for 3 - 5 years. "For Jiubianli, whether the investment institution's takeover can activate the value of its accumulated channels may be the key to the rebirth of this established enterprise."

This article is from the WeChat official account "Venture Capital Daily". Author: Xu Cihao. Republished by 36Kr with permission.