中信股份向日本和泰国公司售股

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——中国最大的国有集团公司之一中信旗下的香港上市公司，中信股份有限公司达成协议，将把20%的股份以逾100亿美元（约合620亿元人民币）的价格出售给日本的伊藤忠(Itochu)和泰国的正大集团(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.

这笔交易使得亚洲的三家巨型企业集团可以携手合作。协议公布之时，正值中国政府在推动麾下规模庞大的国有企业更具竞争力，并更大程度地向外部投资开放。

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，前身为“中信泰富”。去年，其国有母公司中信集团对它进行了重组，在一笔价值365亿美元的交易中将几乎全部资本注入了这家位于香港的机构。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，投资兴趣覆盖纺织、金属与矿产、食品及机械行业。正大集团则由泰国亿万富豪谢国民(Dhanin Chearavanont)控制，在食品与农业、零售、通讯和保险领域有大量投资。

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.

这两家企业近年来均在中国进行了可观的投资。正大本已拥有中信股份1%的股份，而伊藤忠与中信股份存在合伙关系。

“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.”

“正大集团和伊藤忠是两家具有国际影响力的跨国集团，他们的入股将与我们形成优势互补，有助于我们更好地扩展业务，”中信股份及其母公司中信集团的董事长常振明在周二发表的声明中表示。“这是中信股份继去年在香港挂牌上市后，不断推进企业改革与全球化战略的延续和发展。”

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.

中信集团始创于1979年，中国共产党试探性地迈出对外开放本国经济第一步的时候。到了今天，它自诩为中国规模最大的综合性企业集团，旗下拥有14家在香港或内地上市的子公司，业务覆盖面甚广，涉足金融、地产、采矿和制造等领域。

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.

与中国政府推动改革的努力一致，其他一些大型国企也在尝试引入外部投资者。去年9月，中国石化宣布，通过将其全国性连锁加油站的部分股份出售给外部投资者来筹措1070.94亿元人民币的资金。

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.

按照周二宣布的协议条款，正大集团和伊藤忠将成立一家各占一半股份的子公司，首先以344亿港元（约合276亿元人民币）的价格从中信集团手中购入中信股份10%的股份。然后，中信股份将发行新股，以459亿港元现金的价格再将另外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.

这两轮交易均把中信的股价定为每股13.80港元，比宣布达成协议之前的周一的收盘价高出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.

同样在周二，中信股份表示，将根据在澳大利亚的一处进展不顺的铁矿项目投资价值，对其2014年收益减记14至18亿美元。

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.

宣布达成协议后，中信股份在香港的股价微升，周二收于每股13.52港元，涨幅为1.5%。在这笔交易上为中信股份提供咨询服务的是本集团的经纪行中信证券，而为伊藤忠提供服务的则为野村证券(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，这笔交易尚待监管部门与中信股份股东的批准，计划将于今年10月最终完成。