私人股本难以跟中国矿企竞争

Private equity will find it increasingly difficult to compete with Chinese companies in bidding for strategic mining assets, according to $8.4bn private equity firm Denham Capital.

管理资产规模达84亿美元的私人股本公司Denham Capital表示，私人股本将发现，它们在竞购战略矿业资产时，越来越难以跟中国企业竞争。

Firms in the sector have raised an estimated $7bn-$10bn to invest in metals and mining amid a commodity downturn that has pushed companies to shore up their balance sheets. But there has been little involvement so far in large deals.

随着大宗商品的下行周期推动业内企业加强各自的资产负债表，私人股本公司已融资大约70亿至100亿美元准备投资于金属和矿业资产。但迄今为止，私人股本很少参与大型收购。

China Molybdenum has emerged as the main buyer of assets this year. The company bought Freeport-McMoRan’s stake in the Tenke Fungurume operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo for $2.65bn earlier this month and in April agreed to buy niobium and phosphate assets in Brazil from Anglo American for $1.5bn.

今年，洛阳钼业(China Molybdenum)成为主要的资产买家。本月早些时候，该公司以26.5亿美元收购了麦克墨伦自由港(Freeport-McMoRan)在刚果民主共和国的Tenke Fungurume项目的股权，并在4月同意以15亿美元收购英美资源集团(Anglo American)在巴西的铌和磷酸盐资产。

China will continue to acquire overseas copper mining assets to secure supply, Jerry Jiao, vice-president of state-owned China Minmetals, said in Chile last month.

中国五矿集团公司(China Minmetals)副总裁焦健(Jerry Jiao)上月在智利表示，中国将继续在海外收购铜矿资产以保障供应。

“Chinese buyers have lower cost of capital than a PE firm, if an asset has strategic value a PE should not compete,” said Bert Koth, Denham’s Perth-based managing director responsible for mining investments.

“中国买家的资金成本低于私人股本公司，如果一项资产具有战略价值，私人股本公司无法与之竞争，”Denham Capital位于珀斯的负责矿业投资的董事总经理伯特•科特(Bert Koth)说。

“For the few good, large high-profile assets, strategic (buyers) will always outbid PE.”

“对于少量优质、大型的引人注目的资产，战略（买家）的报价将总是高于私人股本公司。”

For private equity the opportunity is instead in the medium and small-cap sector, Mr Koth said, where there is more distress and forced sellers.

科特说，私人股本公司的机会在于中小市值板块，那里有更多陷入困境、不得不变卖的卖家。

“There’s significant opportunity, but not in the high-profile transactions,” he said.

“存在重大的机遇，但不在引人注目的交易上，”他说。

Listed Chinese mining companies also trade at higher multiples compared to their western peers, he said. China Moly trades at a price to earnings ratio of 82 compared to 18 for Freeport.

他说，中国上市矿企的估值也高于西方同行。目前，洛阳钼业的市盈率为82倍，麦克墨伦自由港则为18倍。

China Moly’s deal for Freeport’s DRC asset could be a strategic purchase of cobalt for China, a key material for batteries, according to analysts. Likewise, Chinese niobium demand is expected to increase as the country moves to producing high-strength steel.

分析师们表示，洛阳钼业收购麦克墨伦自由港在刚果的资产，可能是一项战略性收购，目的在于帮助中国获取制造电池的关键原料钴。同样，随着中国开始生产高强度钢材，该国对于铌的需求预计也会增加。

“China’s ‘top down’ strategy of acquiring assets with a vision of controlling the production of ore and higher margin goods further along the supply chain is still alive and well despite the country’s economic challenges,” said Chris Berry, an analyst at House Mountain Partners in New York.

“中国仍在执行那种着眼于沿着供应链控制矿石以及下游更高利润率产品生产的‘自上而下’的资产收购战略，尽管该国面临着诸多经济挑战，”纽约House Mountain Partners的分析师克里斯•贝里(Chris Berry)说。