2010-12-16 11:09

HONG KONG - Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) said on Thursday it will invest in China's largest liquor store chain, adding another Chinese consumer asset to its Asia portfolio, Reuters reported Wednesday.

KKR did not disclose the amount of money it is investing in VATS, a company founded in 2005, which operates more than 270 liquor stores covering all provinces in mainland China.

Annual sales of China's white liquor market are around $27 billion, KKR cites data from China's National Bureau of Statistics as showing in a news release. The consumption of bottled white liquor has grown at 20 percent on a compounded annual growth rate in the past five years.

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 marks KKR's second consumer play in China, the company has also invested in China Modern Dairy.