盈德氣體內斗帶來的曙光

When Zhongguo Sun and Trevor Strutt first thought of setting up their own company, they were spurred to do so because of a takeover battle for their then-employer. Sixteen years later the pair are embroiled in their own fight for control in a saga that is gripping Asia’s financial community.

孫忠國與特雷弗•雷蒙德•斯特拉特(Trevor Raymond Strutt)第一次有成立自己的公司的想法，是因為受到了為他們當時老板進行的一場收購戰(zhàn)的刺激。16年后，兩人又陷入了自家公司控制權的爭奪戰(zhàn)——這場大戲吸引了整個亞洲金融界的目光。

The tussle over their group Yingde Gases has involved a rare public boardroom battle that ousted Mr Sun and Mr Strutt from the group and an equally unusual public “bear hug” bid directly to shareholders. Most recently, Yingde has been the subject of a lowball bid from an Asian private equity house with the potential to win the day. Small wonder the situation has excited bankers and investors.

圍繞他倆創(chuàng)立的盈德氣體(Yingde Gases)的紛爭，包含了一場罕見的公開化的董事會斗爭(結果導致孫忠國與斯特拉特被罷免)，以及一項同樣不尋常的、直接向股東發(fā)出的高溢價公開收購要約。最新的進展是，一家亞洲私人股本公司對盈德發(fā)出了低溢價收購，且有可能成功。難怪這一情形令銀行業(yè)者和投資者感到興奮。

The fight offers a faint hope that genuine, value-maximising dealmaking in Asia could pick up if more competitive bids emerge for groups that lack a controlling shareholder. In the case of Hong Kong-listed Yingde, stakes held by groups such as Aberdeen Asset Management and BlackRock, among others, in theory hold the balance of power. Two shareholder votes are due on Wednesday.

這場爭斗帶來了一絲希望，即如果更多針對缺乏控股股東的公司的競爭性收購要約涌現的話，亞洲促使價值最大化的誠意交易可能會加速涌現。就在香港上市的盈德而言，安本資產管理公司(Aberdeen Asset Management)、貝萊德(BlackRock)等公司持有的股份，在理論上掌握著局勢的平衡。該公司將于周三舉行兩項股東投票。

“This is as far from vanilla as you get in Hong Kong — its an extraordinary situation,” said one longtime dealmaker. “It is what we all live for.”

“在香港，再也不可能有比這更不尋常的情形了——勁爆極了，”一位資深交易撮合者表示，“這是我們所有人一生一遇的大戲。”

History, however, suggests the Yingde battle might be the most dramatic situation most Asian financiers will see for years. Dealmaking in the region has picked up recently: mergers and acquisitions involving an Asian group were worth $1.3tn last year according to Dealogic, up 50 per cent from a decade ago. The rise has been spurred by corporate China’s appetite for overseas purchases as well as high-profile Japanese deals. Last year these were typified by ChemChina’s $47bn deal for Syngenta and Softbank’s $32bn swoop on ARM Holdings.

然而，歷史經驗顯示，盈德的這場內斗，可能對多數亞洲金融家而言都是數年一遇的大戲。亞洲的并購交易近期已經加速：根據Dealogic的數據，去年，涉及亞洲公司的并購達到了1.3萬億美元，比10年前增長了50%。中國企業(yè)進行海外收購的欲望及日本企業(yè)的高調交易，促成了這一增長。去年的典型并購包括中國化工(ChemChina)斥資470億美元收購先正達(Syngenta)以及軟銀(Softbank)以320億美元閃電收購ARM控股(ARM Holdings)。

Both of those were exceptional by Asia standards. ChemChina’s deal involved a competitive bidding process. Softbank’s was a bold gambit in the weeks following the UK’s vote to leave the EU. Both involved the sort of fees and related work bankers dream of.

以亞洲標準看，這兩筆交易都不尋常。中國化工的交易包括了一個競爭性出價過程。軟銀在英國公投決定退出歐盟之后數周進行收購是一步大膽的棋。兩筆交易都帶來了銀行業(yè)者夢寐以求的報酬和業(yè)務。

But more than two-thirds of deals in Asia are intra-regional affairs where controlling shareholders and mostly supine minority investors combine to frustrate hopes of a competitive process.

但亞洲超過三分之二的交易為區(qū)域內交易——控股股東加上基本上逆來順受的少數股股東，抹煞了出現競爭性收購過程的希望。

Take the region’s biggest deal the year before ChemChina and SoftBank grew so bold: the $90bn reorganisation of Li Ka-shing’s empire in two parts. Investors approved the deal with no public questioning, even though the effective share price for Hutchison Whampoa, Mr Li’s crown jewel, was below its one, five and 10-year average prices. “Controlling shareholders are the biggest reason we don’t see more real situations,” says one hedge fund manager, citing investor attempts to convince Panasonic to pay more to buy back its homebuilder subsidiary. “Look at Japan — you know as a minority investor you will get messed around.”

舉個例子，在中國化工和軟銀變得如此勇敢之前那一年，亞洲最大規(guī)模的交易是李嘉誠(Li Ka-shing)兩部分商業(yè)帝國900億美元的重組。股東們批準了這筆交易，沒有任何公開質疑，即便對李嘉誠商業(yè)帝國“王冠上明珠”和記黃埔(Hutchison Whampoa)給出的實際股價低于其1年、5年和10年的平均價。“控股股東是我們看不到更多激烈競購的情形的最大原因，”一位對沖基金經理表示，他還引述了投資者試圖說服松下(Panasonic)出更高價回購其住宅建筑子公司的例子。“看看日本——你就會明白，少數股股東會受欺負。”

State-owned enterprises pose many of the same problems for minority investors as family-run empires. The biggest deal of 2014 was the $60bn merger of China’s two largest trainmakers, CSR and CNR. Shares in the two were suspended for three months as the details were worked out — a practice that effectively shut down market discussion.

像家族企業(yè)一樣，中國國有企業(yè)也給少數股股東帶來許多同樣的問題。2014年最大規(guī)模的并購交易是中國最大兩家列車制造商——中國南車(CSR)和中國北車(CNR)——600億美元的合并。在合并細節(jié)敲定前，兩家公司的股票停牌了3個月，這是有效阻止市場討論的辦法。

Another factor frustrating would-be dealmakers is an often slow response from regulators. Asian bankers and hedge funds often refer wistfully to the rapid rulings of London’s Takeover Panel in live bid situations.

另外一個困擾著有意進行交易者的因素是，監(jiān)管者的回復通常很慢。亞洲銀行業(yè)者和對沖基金往往在實時競價時向往著倫敦收購委員會(Takeover Panel)那種迅速的裁決。

“If you want this market to be more activist and see shareholders fight for their rights, you have to be ready for that,” said one banker of the fast-moving Yingde situation.

“如果你希望這個市場出現更多積極行動的股東，希望看到股東捍衛(wèi)自己的權益，你就必須準備好迎接那種情況，”一名銀行業(yè)者提到盈德快速變化的局面時表示。

Stakeholders in the Yingde battle on Friday asked Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission to intervene with as yet no response. Wednesday’s shareholder votes are proposals from each side to remove the other from the board amid competing bids for the company from Air Products of the US and PAG, the Asian private equity group. The PAG offer is the subject of complaint because Zhao Xiangti, Yingde’s chairman, signed an irrevocable agreement to sell PAG his 12 per cent, raising its stake to 42 per cent just as Mr Zhao is purportedly running a competitive auction for the whole thing.

上周五，參與盈德內斗的股東請求香港證監(jiān)會(SFC)出手干預，目前尚未得到回復。周三的股東投票是圍繞內斗雙方把對方踢出董事會的提議，與此同時美國空氣產品公司(Air Products)和亞洲私人股本公司太盟投資集團(PAG)對盈德發(fā)出了相互競爭的收購要約。引發(fā)抱怨的是PAG的要約，因為董事會主席趙項題簽訂了一份不可撤銷的協議，把他持有的12%的股份出售給PAG，使得PAG的持股增加至42%，而趙項題名義上有義務保證對盈德的收購須經過激烈的競價過程。

Yingde’s battle may be decided in the coming days but Asia’s M&A landscape will take longer to evolve. Controlling shareholders are a fact of the region’s markets, meaning it is up to investors to make their voices heard. They will need regulators to support them in doing so.

盈德內斗的結果或許會在未來幾天見分曉，但亞洲并購交易的格局將需要更長時間演變。控股股東是亞洲市場的既存事實，這意味著需要股東自己發(fā)出聲音。要做到這一點，他們需要監(jiān)管者的支持。