英文原文

China Grocery Chains To Shop

A shopping spree for China's supermarket chains is about to begin.

Kenneth Fang, the majority shareholder of Times Ltd., which runs 65 stores in eastern China, is looking to sell the business for about $560 million in a sector ripe for consolidation. By the end of 2009, revenue growth in the supermarket sector over the previous five years will have averaged about 15%, market-research firm IBISWorld expects.

Reason No. 1 for consolidation: That growth rate is going to drop in the next five years, admittedly to a still healthy clip of about 9.5% per year.

As individual wealth rises in China, shoppers are becoming keener on supermarkets, attracted by their product variety and quality, cleanliness and competitive pricing.

Reason No. 2: There's scope for firms to scale up and form nationwide franchises. Carrefour China has the largest market share among supermarkets at just 7.4%, with the top-five players accounting for 22.5% of sales this year.

A company such as Wumart, China's fourth-largest retailer by sales but with its 400 stores confined to northern China, is typical of a supermarket chain with room to grow, and the cash to do so. The company looked at making a major investment in Times in 2006, but the timing may be more propitious for it now.

A Wumart-Times tie-up would result in little geographic overlap, though Wumart might see a dip in its gross profit margins, which are higher than those of Times. That matters little. For now, market-share growth is the priority for China's leading supermarket chains.

中文翻译

中国连锁超市业并购大潮将至

中国连锁超市的并购潮即将开始。

时代零售集团有限公司(Times Ltd.)的大股东方铿(Kenneth Fang)打算以约5.60亿美元的价格出售公司。时代零售在中国东部地区有65家门店。中国连锁超市业的整合时机已经成熟。据市场研究公司台经院产经资料库(IBISWorld)预测，在截至2009年底的5年间，中国超市业收入的年均增幅约为15%。

超市业整合的原因之一：未来5年中收入增速将会回落，不过不可否认的是每年仍会有约9.5%的健康增长。

随着中国个人财富的增加，消费者更加热衷于到超市购物，原因主要是超市货品种类多、质量好、干净、价格也很有竞争力。

整合原因之二：公司有发展壮大、形成全国性连锁超市的空间。家乐福（中国）(Carrefour China)的市场占有率最高，也只有7.4%；今年前5大超市的销售额只占超市总销售额的22.5%。

像北京物美商业集团股份有限公司(Wumart)这样的企业是典型的具有发展空间的连锁超市，而且也有发展所需的资金。按销售额计算，物美商业是中国第四大零售商，不过它旗下的400家门店都局限在中国北部地区。2006年，该公司曾试图在时代零售进行一笔重大投资，不过现在可能时机会更好。

假如物美商业与时代零售合并，它们的业务将很少有地域上的重叠，不过物美商业的毛利润率可能会小幅下滑。物美商业的毛利润率比时代零售高。但这并不重要。目前为止，对中国连锁超市领头羊来说，市场占有率的增长才是优先考虑的问题。