亞洲各國企業再掀收購美企浪潮

Wireless-operator Sprint Nextel Corp., pork-producer Smithfield Foods Inc. and now whiskey-maker Beam Inc. are falling into Asian hands.

無線運營商Sprint Nextel Corp.和豬肉加工商Smithfield Foods Inc.都被亞洲企業收購，現在威士忌酒廠Beam Inc.也將落入亞洲企業的手中。

Such multibillion-dollar purchases of U.S. companies by Asian corporations hadn't been seen since before the 2008-'09 financial crisis, when drug maker Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. was purchased by Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

從2008年至2009年金融危機前美國藥企Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.被日本武田藥品工業株式會社(Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.)收購以來，還沒出現過亞洲企業動用上百億美元收購美國公司的交易。

But the past year's deals have been bigger than ever, and the targets are well-known U.S. brands. And unlike a spate of purchases in the 1980s, when Japanese electronics company Sony Corp. took on Hollywood by purchasing Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc., Asian buyers have avoided touchy areas and thus, a backlash from American consumers.

但去年的交易規模比以往都大，而收購目標都是知名的美國品牌。上世紀80年代掀起過一股收購美國企業的浪潮，比如日本電子企業索尼公司(Sony Corp.)就曾通過收購哥倫比亞電影公司(Columbia Pictures Entertainment Inc.)來進入好萊塢(Hollywood)。現在與之不同，亞洲買家會避開敏感行業，因此也就不會受到美國消費者的強烈抵制。

'We have not seen such a strong phenomenon of Asian firms buying U.S. brands before. I believe we will see more multibillion-dollar outbound M&As by Asian companies this year,' said Lian Lian, a co-head of North Asia mergers and acquisitions at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The sluggishness of the global economic recovery may 'encourage Western firms to rationalize value expectations' and sell assets, she said.

摩根大通公司(J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.)負責北亞併購業務的聯席主管Lian Lian說，我們以前從未見過如此熱鬧的亞洲企業收購美國品牌的景象，我覺得今年亞洲企業將在海外進行更多大手筆的併購。她說，全球經濟復甦乏力可能會促使西方企業出售資產併合理調整其價值預期。

Japan's Suntory Holdings Ltd. said Monday it would buy Beam for $13.6 billion -- less than a year after SoftBank Corp. purchased Sprint for $21.6 billion. The deals are part of a drive by Japanese companies -- struggling with an aging population and slow growth at home -- to strengthen their offerings and boost their popularity overseas. In the SoftBank deal, Sprint received cash to help it compete with bigger rivals in the U.S., one of the world's most lucrative markets for smartphones.

日本三得利控股公司(Suntory Holdings Ltd.)週一說，將以136億美元收購Beam。此時距離軟銀(SoftBank Corp.)以216億美元收購Sprint還不到一年時間。在日本人口老齡化和經濟增長放緩的背景下，這類收購交易是日本企業強化業務、提高海外人氣的行動之一。在軟銀收購交易中，Sprint收到的是現金，這有助於它和美國更強大的對手展開競爭。美國是世界上利潤最豐厚的智能手機市場之一。

'In some ways, Suntory going for Beam is not a surprise,' said Jeremy Cunnington, an analyst at Euromonitor International in London. 'The company, along with its fellow Japanese companies, has been looking to diversify away from its moribund markets. And undoubtedly, Beam's array of international brands would make it a truly global spirits player.' The deal will vault Suntory to the world's sixth-largest spirits company by volume from 25th, Mr. Cunnington said.

歐睿信息諮詢(Euromonitor International)駐倫敦的分析師坎寧頓(Jeremy Cunnington)表示，從某種程度上說，三得利收購Beam並不出人意料；與其它日本公司一樣，三得利也一直在找機會擺脫死氣沉沉的市場，以期實現多元化，而Beam擁有多個國際品牌，這無疑會讓三得利在全球烈酒行業成爲舉重若輕的一員。坎寧頓說，這樁交易完成後，三得利在全球烈酒銷量排行榜上將從第25名躍升至第6名。

While Japanese companies have been pushing to gain access to overseas markets, their Chinese counterparts have been making purchases to bring brands home.

日本企業在努力爭取進入海外市場的機會，而中國公司則在忙着通過收購把國外品牌引入中國。

Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. last year bought Smithfield Foods for $4.7 billion, the largest purchase by a Chinese company of a U.S. one. Shuanghui's purchase gave it a well-respected brand that Shuanghui can take home to China -- the world's largest pork consumer -- as food scandals and increasing urbanization drive demand for a safe, secure food supply.

雙匯國際控股有限公司(Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd.)去年以47億美元買下了Smithfield Foods，成爲中資企業收購美國資產的最大單。這筆交易讓雙匯有了一個可帶回全球最大豬肉消費國的受人尊敬的品牌。在中國，受食品醜聞和城市化發展影響，百姓越來越需要有保障的安全食品供應。

Shuanghui's deal stood in contrast to a 2005 attempt by oil company Cnooc Ltd. to buy Unocal Corp. for $18.5 billion, which was thwarted by fears for U.S. national security.

雙匯收購交易與2005年中國海洋石油有限公司(Cnooc Ltd.)試圖以185億美元收購加州聯合石油公司(Unocal Corp.)形成對比。由於美國對國家安全的顧慮，這宗油企併購交易未能進行。

Asian companies bought $260 billion in U.S. assets in the five years since 2009, above the $206 billion purchased in the previous five years, according to Dealogic.

據Dealogic統計，2009年以來的這五年裏，亞洲公司共收購了2,600億美元的美國資產，超過此前五年的2,060億美元。

The SoftBank and Suntory acquisitions are bigger than the Asian -- primarily Japanese -- acquisitions of U.S. assets made in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

軟銀和三得利的收購規模超過了上世紀90年代末和本世紀初亞洲（主要是日本）公司對美國資產的收購規模。

Until the SoftBank deal, the biggest Asian purchase of a U.S. asset was Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.'s $9.8 billion acquisition of a 16% stake in AT&T Wireless Group Inc. in 2000. Excluding financial services, the next-biggest Asian purchase of a U.S. company was Takeda's $8.1 billion purchase of Millennium in 2008, trailed by Japan Tobacco Inc.'s $7.8 billion purchase in 1999 of the international tobacco operations of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. The SoftBank deal still would be the biggest after adjusting for inflation.

在軟銀收購完成前，亞洲收購美國資產的最大單是日本電信電話(Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.) 2000年以98億美元收購AT&T Wireless Group Inc. 16%的股份。若不算金融服務業，亞洲企業收購美國公司的第二大單是2008年武田藥品工業以81億美元收購Millennium，第三大單是1999年日本菸草(Japan Tobacco Inc.)以78億美元收購RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.國際菸草業務。現在軟銀的收購交易成爲了亞洲企業收購美國公司的最大單，經通脹因素調整後也是如此。