中国成为全球并购大户 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.

一批新的中国交易者加入了全球并购巨头的行列，这些商界领袖拥有人脉、信心和背景，他们在追逐自己数十亿美元的收购目标之余，还大胆搅局别人的收购交易。

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.

要不是来自中国大企业接连的出价和议价，推动中国跨境交易屡创新高，今年首季并购活动将会低迷，即使此前红火的美国并购活动也降至两年低点。

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.

汤森路透(Thomson Reuters)的数据显示，受中国对海外资产渴求的助推，今年一季度全球跨境并购总价值达到3110亿美元，占6820亿美元交易总价值的46%，比例之高创下纪录。中资交易总价值达到1010亿美元，占跨境交易总额约三分之一，创下历史最高纪录。

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.

首季中国在全球总体并购活动中的比例也达到了历史最高点：该季度全球15%的交易涉及在境外收购的中资买家。

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.

中国并购交易飙升，在某种程度上抵消了美国并购交易下降的负面影响。美国并购交易总价值下降29%，至2560亿美元；受1月份市场大幅波动影响，美国的并购活动有所放缓。但欧洲第一季度交易总价值比去年同期有所提高，同比上升11%，至1810亿美元。

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.

对于一些有政坛人脉的中国企业领袖来说，比如安邦保险(Anbang Insurance)的吴小晖，中国化工(ChemChina)的任建新（见上图），海航集团(HNA Group)的陈峰，2016年初达成的这些收购就像一块敲门砖，敲开了全球交易者精英俱乐部的大门——里面都是些能在几个月内连续达成巨额交易的呼风唤雨者。

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.

有时这些企业领袖向现有的收购目标发出更高报价，经常以更为诱人的全现金报价搅乱第三方已然达成的交易，显露出自己的底气。

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，安邦董事长闯入喜达屋酒店及度假村国际集团(Starwood Hotels & Resorts)与竞争对手美国酒店集团万豪国际(Marriott International)已进行了数月的交易，正是该战术的最佳示范。本周早些时候，吴小晖信心十足地对喜达屋提出140亿美元的全现金报价，给万豪施加提高其现金加股票报价的更大压力。尽管这笔潜在交易的资金来源一再引起疑问，而且中国保险监管机构发出警告，但吴小晖试图打消外界对其支付能力的疑虑，他向中国媒体表示，他有1万亿元人民币的资产可以动用。（此后，据报道，安邦牵头的财团上周四晚发布声明称，出于多方面的市场考虑，该财团决定不再继续推进对喜达屋的收购。）

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.

就在向喜达屋提出首次报价的前一天，安邦刚达成了一笔65亿美元的交易，收购了私人股本集团黑石(Blackstone)旗下15家高档的美国豪华酒店地产。

“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)全球并购主管迈克尔•卡尔(Michael Carr)解释道：“眼下确定性可以带来加分，因为市场情绪更接近‘避险’，而非‘冒险’。”他表示，这在一定程度上解释了为什么中国企业在激烈的竞购战中频频胜出。

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，中国化工以440亿美元全现金报价成功收购瑞士农业化学品企业先正达(Syngenta)，这是中国企业迄今达成的最大一桩海外收购，也是化工行业有史以来最大一笔收购。而就在短短4个月之前，中国化工董事长任建新敲定了对意大利轮胎制造商倍耐力(Pirelli) 77亿美元的收购。

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.

海航集团也在今年第一季度重返并购市场，这家中国的航空和物流集团在2月份同意以60亿美元收购美国信息技术经销商英迈(Ingram Micro)。就在几个月之前，海航董事长陈峰以26亿美元将在美国上市的飞机租赁公司Avolon Holdings收入囊中，去年还曾以28亿美元买下机场运营商瑞士空港(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.

但这一连串的交易并不完全基于企业领导者的个性。专家们表示，低利率，再加上日益信赖国内的投行专长，推动了中国企业第一季度对外收购大潮。

“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.”

法国外贸银行(Natixis)的企业咨询主管拉古•纳拉因(Raghu Narain)表示：“现在他们有流动性和成熟度进行并购。这些领导人能够整合让他们走出去的资源。”

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.

中国央行在过去一年半时间里6次降息，从而降低了银行融资成本。此外，内地监管机构最近发放许可，即所谓的“路条”，允许多家公司竞购同一收购目标。

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，北控水务集团(Beijing Enterprises Water Group)、北京首都创业集团(Beijing Capital Group)和中国光大国际(China Everbright International)被发现全都在竞购德国废弃物管理公司EEW。北控水务在今年2月以16亿美元赢得竞标。

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.”

达维律师事务所(Davis Polk & Wardwell)驻香港的合伙人Miranda So表示：“‘路条’未必意味着某个中国买家获得排他性，因为我们看到过第二个中国买家竞购相同资产的案例。”

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.

即使在美国并购活动骤降之际，大企业寻求通过收购总部位于海外的竞争对手来降低美国税负的趋势依然盛行。

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，美国企业集团江森自控(Johnson Controls)同意以200亿美元逆向收购总部位于爱尔兰的泰科国际(Tyco International)，该协议将与所谓的“税负倒置”有异曲同工之妙。

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.

与此同时，美国公司IHS签署了130亿美元的全股权交易，同意与英国金融信息提供商Markit合并。该交易将产生一个总部位于伦敦的企业信息巨擘，同时也会降低该公司的税负。

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)北美并购主管阿努•艾延加(Anu Aiyengar)表示，交易活动在医疗和科技等特定行业减缓——这些行业的并购活动在2015年非常红火——同时金融服务和工业企业等其他部门的并购活动开始启动。

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.

银行家们表示，有望涌现进一步交易的领域是消费板块。该板块去年出现了一些大笔交易，但今年一季度的交易撮合活动相对较少。

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

瑞信(Credit Suisse)消费者和零售事业群主管延斯•韦尔特(Jens Welter)表示，买家正在物色机遇。

“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.”

他说：“战略收购者继续非常自信，就并购而言，那些追逐具体战略的人得到了回报……整体而言，去年登上新闻头条的较大型交易非常复杂，依赖错综复杂的架构。其中一些交易将继续出现在已经高度整合的行业。”