英国不能出售自己通向荣耀的道路

Since Britain voted to leave the EU, there has been a tendency to be downbeat about the country’s economic and industrial prospects. The decision by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank to spend ￡24bn on buying Arm Holdings seems in this light a welcome relief.

自从英国公投决定退出欧盟以来，出现了一种对英国经济和工业前景感到悲观的倾向。在这种背景下，日本综合性企业软银(SoftBank)斥资240亿英镑收购ARM控股(Arm Holdings)的决定，似乎提供了一种可喜的安慰。

Ministers have hailed the deal as a sign of confidence in the UK as a place to do business. In the words of Philip Hammond, the new chancellor, it “shows that Britain has lost none of its allure to international investors”.

英国的大臣们把该交易赞为对英国经商环境有信心的信号。用新任财政大臣菲利普•哈蒙德(Philip Hammond)的话说，这“表明英国丝毫未失去对国际投资者的吸引力”。

However, Theresa May’s government has made vague noises about the need for a new industrial policy. In this context, a bid on this scale that captures a star in the tech firmament has implications that deserve wider debate. The deal raises questions about Britain’s corporate culture and governance. Arm is a unique asset in a somewhat threadbare UK tech landscape. The decision to sell raises questions about whether boards in general remain too focused on quick returns to shareholders, rather than developing Britain’s few world-class companies for the longer term.

然而，特里萨•梅(Theresa May)政府已经含糊地表示过出台新工业政策的必要。在这种背景下，以如此高的价格收购一家科技业明星企业的交易，具有值得广泛讨论的意义。该交易对英国企业文化和治理提出了问题。ARM在英国乏善可陈的科技领域一枝独秀。出售ARM的决定引出了一个问题：总的来说，公司董事会是否仍然过于注重股东的快速回报、而不是长远地发展英国屈指可数的世界级企业。

The attraction of Arm for SoftBank is not in doubt. The UK company offers the conglomerate an entrée into the design of sophisticated chips for smartphones and mobile devices. Part of the appeal is to make the Japanese a leading player in a new growing market: the “internet of things”.

ARM对软银的吸引力毋庸置疑。这家英国公司给软银提供了一块进入智能手机和移动设备复杂芯片设计领域的敲门砖。部分吸引力在于，ARM可使这家日本企业在“物联网”这块全新的增长市场成为领军企业。

Recent foreign bids and takeovers of British companies have been stigmatised as little more than vehicles for stripping assets, tax arbitrage and carrying off intellectual property. While one cannot know how the Arm deal will turn out, SoftBank’s intentions seem a great deal more benign. It intends to create 1,500 new jobs at Arm’s 4,000-strong Cambridge headquarters, which would represent a substantial investment in new capacity.

最近外国企业对英国企业的竞标和收购被指责为不过是为了剥离资产、税收套利以及抢走知识产权。尽管人们无法知道ARM交易最终结局如何，但软银的意图似乎善意得多。它打算在ARM的剑桥总部（拥有4000名员工）新增1500个工作岗位，这代表着实质性投资新产能。

The deal should face few regulatory obstacles. Any potential objections on competition grounds look surmountable. Although SoftBank owns mobile phone networks in Japan and the US, it has no involvement in the manufacture of phones or devices. There is no overlap between SoftBank and Arm’s business. Nor is there any obvious concern about national security.

该交易几乎不会面临监管障碍。任何可能以竞争为由的反对看起来都是可以克服的。尽管软银在日本和美国拥有移动电话网络，但它从未涉足手机和移动设备制造。软银和ARM的业务没有重叠。该交易也未明显涉及国家安全。

The Japanese group does have heavy debts. After the deal it will have net borrowings of more than $100bn. These could in theory reduce its capacity or willingness to invest.

这家日本集团确实背有沉重的债务。在该交易完成后，它的借款净额将超过1000亿美元。从理论上看，这会降低其财力或投资意愿。

Ultimately, the concern is less about the identity of the purchaser and more about what motivates a world-beating UK company to surrender voluntarily its independence. Arm will not gain any compelling commercial or industrial benefit from its ownership by SoftBank. There was no sign that its current shareholders were unwilling to finance its expansionary aims. Arm had reportedly spurned earlier approaches.

归根结底，真正的关切与买家身份没什么关系，而在于是什么原因促使一家世界一流的英国公司自愿放弃其独立性。ARM不会从变身一家软银旗下公司中得到任何无法抗拒的商业或行业利益。没有迹象表明其目前的股东不愿为其扩张目标出资。据报道，ARM此前拒绝了多次收购要约。

This plays into a wider concern that too often in Britain, directors are quick to pursue takeovers rather than sticking to the grind of organic expansion. It reflects the prevailing ideology of shareholder primacy; one that overemphasises the importance of near-term share price performance. Bosses see their job to be about buying and selling assets. Ideally, they should run a business that adds value primarily through the goods and services it provides.

这就引出一个更广泛的问题：在英国，太多情况下公司的董事们会很快寻求收购，而非坚持扎扎实实的有机扩张。这反映出了股东至上的普遍观念。该观念过于强调短期内股价表现的重要性。老板认为自己的工作是买卖资产。但在理想情况下，他们经营企业应该主要通过提供商品和服务实现增值。

For the British government, SoftBank’s decision is a welcome shot in the arm at a time of uncertainty about the UK’s status as a destination for inward investment. But any post-Brexit celebration should be tempered by realism. Britain cannot sell its way to glory. If the economy is to be rebalanced away from financial services, the country must become better at nurturing the strategic businesses it creates.

对英国政府而言，在英国作为外来投资目的地的地位充满变数之际，软银的决定是一针受到欢迎的强心剂。但在后退欧时代，任何庆祝都应该从现实出发加以克制。英国不能出售自己通向荣耀的道路。如果英国经济需要重新调整、减少对金融服务业的倚重，英国必须变得更善于培养其缔造的战略性企业。