通用電氣收購案點燃10月并購熱情

General Electric led a trio of groups planning big takeovers yesterday to lift the value of transactions launched in October to more than $500bn, in what has unexpectedly become one of the busiest months for dealmaking on record.

昨日，通用電氣(GE)等三家謀劃實施大型收購的集團宣布并購消息，推動10月發(fā)起的并購交易額超過5000億美元，讓10月意外地成為有史以來并購交易最繁忙的月份之一。

The surge in blockbuster mergers and acquisitions signalled renewed corporate confidence in the outlook for the US economy, dealmakers said, even as the country’s highly charged presidential race concludes in just a week.

交易撮合者表示，在美國高度緊張的總統(tǒng)競選僅剩一周之際，大型并購交易的激增表明了企業(yè)對美國經(jīng)濟前景的信心。

Operating conditions have not changed drastically in recent years: companies are struggling to increase sales and historically low borrowing rates have made acquisitions an attractive way to boost revenue. That combination has provided the impetus for a multiyear boom in dealmaking led by industries where companies are seeking consolidation to gain scale over competitors and leverage over customers.

近年來，美國的經(jīng)營環(huán)境一直沒有發(fā)生顯著改變：企業(yè)難以提升銷售額，處于歷史低位的借款利率使收購成為一種頗具吸引力的增收方式。這一局面催生了許多行業(yè)連續(xù)多年的交易熱潮，這些行業(yè)內的公司正在尋求整合，以獲得相對競爭對手的規(guī)模優(yōu)勢和對客戶的影響力。

“I’ve never tried to think about politics in terms of when I time deals,” Jeff Immelt, GE chief executive, said of his $25bn deal to acquire oil and gas services provider Baker Hughes. “The time do these things is right now . . . when there is a level of uncertainty, not whenever things are known.”

通用電氣首席執(zhí)行官杰夫•伊梅爾特(Jeff Immelt)在談起250億美元的通用電氣收購石油和天然氣服務提供商貝克休斯(Baker Hughes)的交易時表示，“在選擇交易時機方面，我從未試圖考慮政治因素。做這些事情的時機就是現(xiàn)在……還存在些許不確定性的時候，而不是情況已經(jīng)明朗的時候。”

The company formed by combining GE’s oil and gas equipment manufacturing unit with Baker Hughes will create a powerful rival to oil services group Schlumberger, with $32bn in annual revenues and operations in 120 countries.

由通用電氣旗下石油和天然氣設備制造部門與貝克休斯合并而成的新公司，年收入將達320億美元，業(yè)務遍及120個國家，將成為油田服務公司斯倫貝謝(Schlumberger)的強大對手。

Elsewhere, CenturyLink, the US telecoms group, said it would buy the larger Level 3, which provides infrastructure that allows business to connect to the internet safely, for $34bn, including debt, and private equity group Blackstone said it would acquire TeamHealth, a US provider of physician services, for $6.1bn, including debt.

此外，美國電信集團CenturyLink表示，將以340億美元(含債務)收購體量更大的Level 3。后者提供幫企業(yè)安全接入互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的基礎設施。私募股權集團黑石(Blackstone)表示，將以61億美元(含債務)收購美國醫(yī)療服務提供商TeamHealth。

The transactions capped the seventh most-active month for global M&A with $502.8bn of deals, according to data from Dealogic. Attempts for US-based companies accounted for $329.1bn of that amount, just shy of a monthly record set in July of 2015.

Dealogic的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，10月份以5028億美元的交易量，成為全球并購交易第七活躍的月份。涉及美國企業(yè)的交易額為3291億美元，僅略低于2015年7月創(chuàng)下的紀錄。

The remarkable surge in M&A activity in October comes after a sluggish 2016 for dealmakers. Until recently, chief executives have been reluctant to make big bets in the US due to the turmoil associated with the presidential race and an Obama administration that has acted to block several megadeals.

經(jīng)歷交易清淡的今年頭9個月之后，10月份并購活動出現(xiàn)顯著飆升。由于美國總統(tǒng)競選引起的混亂以及奧巴馬政府叫停了多個大型收購案，首席執(zhí)行官們直到最近一直不愿在美國進行大規(guī)模押注。

Some argue that October’s burst was partly thanks to the growing poll lead of Hillary Clinton, Democratic presidential nominee, over Republican rival Donald Trump. The FBI’s decision to release new details about its investigation into Mrs Clinton’s use of a private email server could choke off the trend.

有人認為，10月并購交易爆發(fā)的部分原因在于，民主黨提名總統(tǒng)候選人希拉里•克林頓(Hillary Clinton)在民調中對共和黨對手唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的優(yōu)勢不斷擴大。美國聯(lián)邦調查局(FBI)決定公布其對希拉里使用私人電子郵件服務器情況的調查的新細節(jié)，可能會讓這種趨勢夭折。

Scott Barshay, a senior dealmaker at law firm Paul Weiss, said the recent spree, which includes AT&T’s agreement to buy Time Warner for about $108bn, including debt, featured deals that had strong long-term rationales as well as few regulatory hurdles.

寶維斯律師事務所(Paul Weiss)高級交易撮合人斯科特•巴爾謝(Scott Barshay)表示，最近這股并購狂潮——包括AT&T同意以約1080億美元(含債務)收購時代華納(Time Warner)——的主角，是那些從長遠來看具有充分合理性并且不存在多少監(jiān)管障礙的交易。

“They were not just synergy or financial plays, rather they were highly ­strategic, landscape-changing business combinations in their respective industries,” Mr Barshay said. “We don’t expect any of them to have great difficulty in obtaining regulatory approvals around the world.”

“這些交易不僅僅出于協(xié)同效應或財務考量，而更是在各自行業(yè)中具有高度戰(zhàn)略眼光、可以改變格局的企業(yè)合并，”巴爾謝說， “我們預計，這幾項交易在獲得世界各地的監(jiān)管批準方面都沒有太大困難。”