中國成爲全球併購大戶 Chinese join the mega dealmakers' club

A new class of Chinese dealmaker has joined the global heavyweights of mergers and acquisitions — business leaders with the connections, confidence and backing to pursue their own multibillion-dollar takeovers, and even gatecrash others.

一批新的中國交易者加入了全球併購巨頭的行列，這些商界領袖擁有人脈、信心和背景，他們在追逐自己數十億美元的收購目標之餘，還大膽攪局別人的收購交易。

In an otherwise lacklustre quarter for M&A activity, it was the bids and bargaining from China’s biggest companies that drove the country’s cross-border deals to record highs, even as previously red-hot US takeover activity fell to a two-year low.

要不是來自中國大企業接連的出價和議價，推動中國跨境交易屢創新高，今年首季併購活動將會低迷，即使此前紅火的美國併購活動也降至兩年低點。

China’s appetite for overseas assets helped push the overall value of cross-border M&A to $311bn — representing a record 46 per cent of the $682bn in deals in the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data. Chinese deals, at $101bn, accounted for roughly a third of that cross-border activity, an all-time high.

湯森路透(Thomson Reuters)的數據顯示，受中國對海外資產渴求的助推，今年一季度全球跨境併購總價值達到3110億美元，佔6820億美元交易總價值的46%，比例之高創下紀錄。中資交易總價值達到1010億美元，佔跨境交易總額約三分之一，創下歷史最高紀錄。

They also took China’s percentage of total global M&A activity to its highest in any quarter: 15 per cent of deals in the period involved an overseas Chinese acquirer.

首季中國在全球總體併購活動中的比例也達到了歷史最高點：該季度全球15%的交易涉及在境外收購的中資買家。

China’s dealmaking surge helped to mask a 29 per cent fall in deal value in the US, to $256bn, as M&A activity was slowed by sharp market volatility in January. Europe’s first quarter values improved on the year before, however, rising 11 per cent to $181bn.

中國併購交易飆升，在某種程度上抵消了美國併購交易下降的負面影響。美國併購交易總價值下降29%，至2560億美元；受1月份市場大幅波動影響，美國的併購活動有所放緩。但歐洲第一季度交易總價值比去年同期有所提高，同比上升11%，至1810億美元。

For a handful of politically-connected Chinese business leaders — such as Anbang Insurance’s Wu Xiaohui, ChemChina’s Ren Jianxin and HNA Group’s Chen Feng — the takeover successes of early 2016 have served as an induction into an elite club of global dealmakers: those capable of consecutive billion-dollar deals in a matter of months.

對於一些有政壇人脈的中國企業領袖來說，比如安邦保險(Anbang Insurance)的吳小暉，中國化工(ChemChina)的任建新（見上圖），海航集團(HNA Group)的陳峯，2016年初達成的這些收購就像一塊敲門磚，敲開了全球交易者精英俱樂部的大門——裏面都是些能在幾個月內連續達成鉅額交易的呼風喚雨者。

In several cases, the businessmen have asserted their status with higher bids for existing takeover targets — upending previously agreed deals, often with superior, all-cash offers.

有時這些企業領袖向現有的收購目標發出更高報價，經常以更爲誘人的全現金報價攪亂第三方已然達成的交易，顯露出自己的底氣。

That tactic was best highlighted in March by Anbang’s chairman, who stepped into a months-old deal between Starwood Hotels & Resorts and rival US hotel group Marriott International. Earlier this week, an emboldened Mr Wu raised his all-cash offer to $14bn for Starwood, heaping greater pressure on Marriott to increase its cash-and-stock bid. Despite repeated questions about the source of his funding and warnings from the Chinese insurance regulator, Mr Wu then attempted to put to rest questions over his ability to pay, telling Chinese media he had Rmb1tn in assets.

今年3月，安邦董事長闖入喜達屋酒店及度假村國際集團(Starwood Hotels & Resorts)與競爭對手美國酒店集團萬豪國際(Marriott International)已進行了數月的交易，正是該戰術的最佳示範。本週早些時候，吳小暉信心十足地對喜達屋提出140億美元的全現金報價，給萬豪施加提高其現金加股票報價的更大壓力。儘管這筆潛在交易的資金來源一再引起疑問，而且中國保險監管機構發出警告，但吳小暉試圖打消外界對其支付能力的疑慮，他向中國媒體表示，他有1萬億元人民幣的資產可以動用。（此後，據報道，安邦牽頭的財團上週四晚發佈聲明稱，出於多方面的市場考慮，該財團決定不再繼續推進對喜達屋的收購。）

Anbang’s original bid for Starwood came just one day after it had secured a $6.5bn deal for 15 prime US luxury hotel properties owned by private equity group Blackstone.

就在向喜達屋提出首次報價的前一天，安邦剛達成了一筆65億美元的交易，收購了私人股本集團黑石(Blackstone)旗下15家高檔的美國豪華酒店地產。

“You get extra points for certainty right now because we are closer to a ‘risk-off’ than a ‘risk-on’ market,” explains Michael Carr, global co-head of M&A at Goldman Sachs, who says this partly explains why Chinese companies are winning the fiercest bidding wars.

高盛(Goldman Sachs)全球併購主管邁克爾•卡爾(Michael Carr)解釋道：“眼下確定性可以帶來加分，因爲市場情緒更接近‘避險’，而非‘冒險’。”他表示，這在一定程度上解釋了爲什麼中國企業在激烈的競購戰中頻頻勝出。

In February, ChemChina succeeded in the the biggest outbound acquisition a Chinese company has made to date with its $44bn all-cash buyout of Swiss agrochemical company Syngenta — the largest-ever takeover in the chemical sector. It came a mere four months after chairman Ren finalised a $7.7bn takeover of Italian tyremaker Pirelli.

今年2月，中國化工以440億美元全現金報價成功收購瑞士農業化學品企業先正達(Syngenta)，這是中國企業迄今達成的最大一樁海外收購，也是化工行業有史以來最大一筆收購。而就在短短4個月之前，中國化工董事長任建新敲定了對意大利輪胎製造商倍耐力(Pirelli) 77億美元的收購。

Chinese aviation and logistics conglomerate HNA Group also returned to the market in the first quarter, agreeing to buy US electronics distributor Ingram Micro for $6bn in February. Just months earlier, group chairman Chen Feng had added US-listed aircraft lessor Avolon Holdings for $2.6bn and closed a $2.8bn takeover of airport operator Swissport last year.

海航集團也在今年第一季度重返併購市場，這家中國的航空和物流集團在2月份同意以60億美元收購美國信息技術經銷商英邁(Ingram Micro)。就在幾個月之前，海航董事長陳峯以26億美元將在美國上市的飛機租賃公司Avolon Holdings收入囊中，去年還曾以28億美元買下機場運營商瑞士空港(Swissport)。

But this spate of deals has not been solely based on the personalities of the chairmen themselves. Experts say low interest rates, coupled with a growing reliance on in-house investment banking expertise on the mainland, have enabled the wave of first-quarter deals.

但這一連串的交易並不完全基於企業領導者的個性。專家們表示，低利率，再加上日益信賴國內的投行專長，推動了中國企業第一季度對外收購大潮。

“Now they have the liquidity and sophistication to do this,” says Raghu Narain, head of corporate advisory at Natixis. “These leaders have been able to amalgamate the resources that have allowed them to go out.”

法國外貿銀行(Natixis)的企業諮詢主管拉古•納拉因(Raghu Narain)表示：“現在他們有流動性和成熟度進行併購。這些領導人能夠整合讓他們走出去的資源。”

China’s central bank has cut interest rates six times during the past year and a half, lowering the cost of bank financing. In addition, mainland regulators have recently granted permission, or so-called “road passes”, for multiple companies to hunt down the same takeover target.

中國央行在過去一年半時間裏6次降息，從而降低了銀行融資成本。此外，內地監管機構最近發放許可，即所謂的“路條”，允許多家公司競購同一收購目標。

In November, Beijing Enterprises Water Group, Beijing Capital Group and China Everbright International, were all found to be competing for German waste management company EEW. Beijing Enterprise won the contest in February for $1.6bn.

去年11月，北控水務集團(Beijing Enterprises Water Group)、北京首都創業集團(Beijing Capital Group)和中國光大國際(China Everbright International)被發現全都在競購德國廢棄物管理公司EEW。北控水務在今年2月以16億美元贏得競標。

Miranda So, a Hong Kong-based partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, says: “A ‘road pass’ may not mean exclusivity for a Chinese buyer, as we have seen cases where a second Chinese buyer enters bidding for the same asset.”

達維律師事務所(Davis Polk & Wardwell)駐香港的合夥人Miranda So表示：“‘路條’未必意味着某個中國買家獲得排他性，因爲我們看到過第二個中國買家競購相同資產的案例。”

Even as M&A activity slumped in the US, the trend of large corporates seeking to lower their US tax bills by acquiring an overseas-headquartered rival remained prevalent.

即使在美國併購活動驟降之際，大企業尋求通過收購總部位於海外的競爭對手來降低美國稅負的趨勢依然盛行。

For example, US conglomerate Johnson Controls agreed a $20bn reverse takeover of Ireland-based Tyco International — a deal that would have the same effect as a so-called ‘tax inversion’.

例如，美國企業集團江森自控(Johnson Controls)同意以200億美元逆向收購總部位於愛爾蘭的泰科國際(Tyco International)，該協議將與所謂的“稅負倒置”有異曲同工之妙。

Meanwhile, US company IHS agreed to combine in a $13bn all-stock deal with UK-based financial information provider Markit in a deal that would create a corporate information powerhouse based in London — and also lower its tax bills.

與此同時，美國公司IHS簽署了130億美元的全股權交易，同意與英國金融信息提供商Markit合併。該交易將產生一個總部位於倫敦的企業信息巨擘，同時也會降低該公司的稅負。

Anu Aiyengar, JPMorgan’s head of M&A in North America, said deal activity had slowed down in certain sectors such as healthcare and tech, which were very busy in 2015, while others — such as financial services and industrials — have picked up.

摩根大通(JPMorgan)北美併購主管阿努•艾延加(Anu Aiyengar)表示，交易活動在醫療和科技等特定行業減緩——這些行業的併購活動在2015年非常紅火——同時金融服務和工業企業等其他部門的併購活動開始啓動。

Bankers say one area that remains ripe for further dealmaking is the consumer sector, which produced some of last year’s blockbuster transactions but saw relatively little dealmaking activity in the first quarter.

銀行家們表示，有望涌現進一步交易的領域是消費板塊。該板塊去年出現了一些大筆交易，但今年一季度的交易撮合活動相對較少。

Jens Welter, head of consumer and retail group at Credit Suisse, says the buyers are there.

瑞信(Credit Suisse)消費者和零售事業羣主管延斯•韋爾特(Jens Welter)表示，買家正在物色機遇。

“Strategic acquirers continue to be very confident and those that pursue a specific strategy are being rewarded when it comes to M&A . . .” he says. “Overall, the larger deals that captured the headlines last year were highly complex and relied on intricate structures. Some of that will continue to happen in highly consolidated sectors.”

他說：“戰略收購者繼續非常自信，就併購而言，那些追逐具體戰略的人得到了回報……整體而言，去年登上新聞頭條的較大型交易非常複雜，依賴錯綜複雜的架構。其中一些交易將繼續出現在已經高度整合的行業。”