中信股份向日本和泰國公司售股

HONG KONG — Citic, one of China’s biggest state-owned conglomerates, has agreed to sell a 20 percent stake for more than $10 billion to Itochu of Japan and Charoen Pokphand Group of Thailand.

香港——中國最大的國有集團公司之一中信旗下的香港上市公司，中信股份有限公司達成協議，將把20%的股份以逾100億美元（約合620億元人民幣）的價格出售給日本的伊藤忠(Itochu)和泰國的正大集團(Charoen Pokphand Group)。

The deal brings together three of Asia’s largest companies, and comes as the Chinese government has been pushing its sprawling state-owned companies to become more competitive and open themselves to outside investment.

這筆交易使得亞洲的三家巨型企業集團可以攜手合作。協議公佈之時，正值中國政府在推動麾下規模龐大的國有企業更具競爭力，並更大程度地向外部投資開放。

Citic, listed in Hong Kong and formerly known as Citic Pacific, was restructured last year when its state-owned parent company, Citic Group, injected essentially all of its assets into the Hong Kong unit in a $36.5 billion deal. The parent group retains a 78 percent stake in Citic.

中信股份在香港上市，前身爲“中信泰富”。去年，其國有母公司中信集團對它進行了重組，在一筆價值365億美元的交易中將幾乎全部資本注入了這家位於香港的機構。母公司目前持有中信78%的股份。

Itochu is one of Japan’s biggest traditional trading companies, with interests that include textiles, metals and minerals, foods and machinery. Charoen Pokphand, better known as CP Group, is controlled by the Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont and has major investments in food and agribusiness, retail, telecommunications and insurance.

伊藤忠是日本名列前茅的老牌商社，投資興趣覆蓋紡織、金屬與礦產、食品及機械行業。正大集團則由泰國億萬富豪謝國民(Dhanin Chearavanont)控制，在食品與農業、零售、通訊和保險領域有大量投資。

Both companies have made substantial investments in China in recent years. CP already had a 1 percent stake in Citic, while Itochu had partnerships with Citic.

這兩家企業近年來均在中國進行了可觀的投資。正大本已擁有中信股份1%的股份，而伊藤忠與中信股份存在合夥關係。

“Not only have we brought in private investors, but they are attractive global conglomerates who will extend our reach and complement our infrastructure and knowledge,” Chang Zhenming, the chairman of Citic and its parent group, said Tuesday in a statement. “This investment is a continuation of our reform and globalization that began last year.”

“正大集團和伊藤忠是兩傢俱有國際影響力的跨國集團，他們的入股將與我們形成優勢互補，有助於我們更好地擴展業務，”中信股份及其母公司中信集團的董事長常振明在週二發表的聲明中表示。“這是中信股份繼去年在香港掛牌上市後，不斷推進企業改革與全球化戰略的延續和發展。”

Citic Group was originally set up in 1979 as the Chinese Communist Party was taking its first tentative steps to reopen the nation’s economy to the outside world. Today, the group bills itself as China’s biggest conglomerate. It controls 14 companies listed in Hong Kong and mainland China, covering businesses as diverse as finance, real estate, mining and manufacturing.

中信集團始創於1979年，中國共產黨試探性地邁出對外開放本國經濟第一步的時候。到了今天，它自詡爲中國規模最大的綜合性企業集團，旗下擁有14家在香港或內地上市的子公司，業務覆蓋面甚廣，涉足金融、地產、採礦和製造等領域。

In line with the government’s push for reform, other large state-controlled Chinese companies have been attempting to bring in outside investors. In September, the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, known as Sinopec, announced plans to raise $17.4 billion by selling a stake in its nationwide chain of gas stations to outside investors.

與中國政府推動改革的努力一致，其他一些大型國企也在嘗試引入外部投資者。去年9月，中國石化宣佈，通過將其全國性連鎖加油站的部分股份出售給外部投資者來籌措1070.94億元人民幣的資金。

Under the terms of the deal announced Tuesday, CP and Itochu will form a 50-50 joint venture to first acquire a 10 percent stake in Citic from Citic Group for 34.4 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $4.4 billion. Citic will then issue new shares representing a further 10 percent stake to CP and Itochu for 45.9 billion dollars in cash.

按照週二宣佈的協議條款，正大集團和伊藤忠將成立一家各佔一半股份的子公司，首先以344億港元（約合276億元人民幣）的價格從中信集團手中購入中信股份10%的股份。然後，中信股份將發行新股，以459億港元現金的價格再將另外10%的股份售予正大和伊藤忠。

Both transactions are priced at 13.80 dollars per share, 3.6 percent higher than Citic’s closing price on Monday, before the deal was announced.

這兩輪交易均把中信的股價定爲每股13.80港元，比宣佈達成協議之前的週一的收盤價高出3.6%。

Separately on Tuesday, Citic said it would write down $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion of its 2014 earnings on the value of its investment in a troubled iron ore mining project in Australia.

同樣在週二，中信股份表示，將根據在澳大利亞的一處進展不順的鐵礦項目投資價值，對其2014年收益減記14至18億美元。

Shares in Citic rose modestly in Hong Kong in response to the deal, closing up 1.5 percent on Tuesday, at 13.52 dollars apiece. Citic was advised on the deal by its own brokerage unit, Citic Securities. Itochu was advised by Nomura.

宣佈達成協議後，中信股份在香港的股價微升，週二收於每股13.52港元，漲幅爲1.5%。在這筆交易上爲中信股份提供諮詢服務的是本集團的經紀行中信證券，而爲伊藤忠提供服務的則爲野村證券(Nomura)。

The companies said the deal remains subject to approval from regulators and Citic’s shareholders. It is expected to be completed in October.

三家公司表示，這筆交易尚待監管部門與中信股份股東的批准，計劃將於今年10月最終完成。