德國(guó)審查中資收購(gòu)航空部件公司交易

Berlin has intervened in the takeover of a small but innovative German aerospace company, using a new law that gives it enhanced powers to block Chinese deals in strategic sectors of the economy.

柏林方面利用一項(xiàng)新法律介入了中資對(duì)一家規(guī)模雖小但具有創(chuàng)新性的德國(guó)航空航天公司的收購(gòu)，該法擴(kuò)大了其阻止中資在德國(guó)戰(zhàn)略性經(jīng)濟(jì)領(lǐng)域并購(gòu)交易的權(quán)力。

Cotesa, which makes parts for aircraft makers such as Airbus and Boeing, was due to be bought by a subsidiary of the state-run China Iron & Steel Research Institute Group for a price German media reported at between €100m and €200m.

Cotesa為空客(Airbus)和波音(Boeing)等飛機(jī)制造商生產(chǎn)部件，本將被中國(guó)國(guó)有的中國(guó)鋼研科技集團(tuán)(CISRI)的一家子公司收購(gòu)。據(jù)德國(guó)媒體報(bào)道，收購(gòu)價(jià)在1億歐元到2億歐元之間。

But Germany’s economics ministry has now stepped in to put the transaction on hold. A ministry spokesman confirmed it was investigating the deal “to check whether it complies with Germany’s law on foreign trade”.

但德國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)部現(xiàn)在介入致使交易擱置。德國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)部的一名發(fā)言人確認(rèn)，該部正在調(diào)查這項(xiàng)交易“以確認(rèn)其是否符合德國(guó)的對(duì)外貿(mào)易法律”。

Berlin moved last year to expand its powers to stop Chinese groups acquiring German companies amid creeping concerns about the scale of Chinese M&A activity in Germany’s high-tech sector.

去年德國(guó)政府采取行動(dòng)擴(kuò)大了對(duì)中國(guó)企業(yè)收購(gòu)德國(guó)企業(yè)的交易的封殺權(quán)，背景是柏林方面對(duì)中國(guó)在德國(guó)高科技產(chǎn)業(yè)領(lǐng)域并購(gòu)交易的規(guī)模越來(lái)越擔(dān)憂。

The backlash was prompted by the €4.5bn takeover two years ago of Kuka, Germany’s largest manufacturer of industrial robotics, by Chinese appliance maker Midea, which stoked fears that advanced German technology would end up in Asian hands.

2年前中國(guó)家電制造商美的(Midea)以45億歐元收購(gòu)德國(guó)最大工業(yè)機(jī)器人制造商庫(kù)卡(Kuka)，促使德國(guó)政府做出這一舉動(dòng)，這筆交易引發(fā)了對(duì)德國(guó)先進(jìn)科技落入亞洲人之手的擔(dān)憂。

Such deals have been subjected to much greater scrutiny since then. Later in 2016 Fujian Grand Chip Investment was forced to abandon its offer for Aixtron, a German chip equipment maker, after US authorities raised objections on national security grounds. Before that the German government had unexpectedly reopened a review of the deal.

自那之后，這類交易受到了更為嚴(yán)格的審查。2016年，由于美國(guó)當(dāng)局以國(guó)家安全理由提出反對(duì)，福建宏芯投資基金(Fujian Grand Chip Investment Fund)被迫放棄了對(duì)德國(guó)芯片設(shè)備制造商愛(ài)思強(qiáng)(Aixtron)的收購(gòu)要約。在那之前，德國(guó)政府出人意料地重啟了對(duì)該交易的審核。

Part of the increased concern about Asian deals has been prompted by a series of job losses at companies acquired by Chinese investors.

對(duì)于亞洲國(guó)家在德國(guó)并購(gòu)交易的日益加劇的憂慮，部分是由中國(guó)投資者收購(gòu)的公司發(fā)生一系列就業(yè)崗位流失引起的。

Ledvance, a former subsidiary of light company Osram that was bought last year by a Chinese consortium, recently announced plans to lay off more than half its employees in Germany — a total of 1,300 workers — and close two factories. Kuka has also said it is cutting 250 of its 750 jobs in Augsburg.

去年被中國(guó)財(cái)團(tuán)收購(gòu)的照明設(shè)備公司歐司朗(Osram)前子公司Ledvance，近期宣布了裁撤德國(guó)超過(guò)一半員工——共計(jì)1300人——以及關(guān)閉兩家工廠的計(jì)劃。庫(kù)卡也表示正在裁撤其在奧格斯堡(Augsburg)的750個(gè)工作崗位中的250個(gè)。

The earlier version of Germany’s law on foreign trade allowed the government to block a company from outside the EU acquiring more than 25 per cent of a German entity if the deal endangered public order or national security. It largely applied to defence industry enterprises.

在之前德國(guó)對(duì)外貿(mào)易相關(guān)法律下，歐盟(EU)以外的企業(yè)收購(gòu)某個(gè)德國(guó)實(shí)體超過(guò)25%的股份時(shí)，如果交易威脅到公共秩序或國(guó)家安全，德國(guó)政府有權(quán)封殺該交易。該法律主要適用于防務(wù)工業(yè)企業(yè)。

But the law has since been expanded to cover a broad range of companies operating in “critical infrastructure” such as electricity and water suppliers, hospitals and transport, as well as advanced defence technologies. The government also has up to four months to investigate takeovers, from two months previously.

不過(guò)，之后該法的適用范圍擴(kuò)大，涵蓋了在“關(guān)鍵基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施”領(lǐng)域運(yùn)營(yíng)的各類企業(yè)的交易，如電力和供水公司、醫(yī)院和運(yùn)輸企業(yè)，以及先進(jìn)防務(wù)技術(shù)企業(yè)。政府還擁有更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間調(diào)查并購(gòu)交易，從之前的2個(gè)月延長(zhǎng)到4個(gè)月。

The economics ministry spokesman said 30 deals had been investigated since the law changed in July. He also stressed that “no acquisition has been blocked” since the original law came into force in 2004.

那名德國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)部發(fā)言人表示，自2017年7月修改該法之后，有30項(xiàng)交易被調(diào)查。他還強(qiáng)調(diào)，自2004年該法最初生效以來(lái)，“沒(méi)有收購(gòu)交易被阻止”。

Germany has also backed plans drawn up last year by the European Commission to toughen screening of overseas investment on national security grounds.

德國(guó)還支持歐盟委員會(huì)(European Commission)去年制定的以國(guó)家安全為由強(qiáng)化對(duì)海外投資審查的計(jì)劃。

Under the plan, EU governments would have the power to block Chinese and other foreign takeovers even if they were carried out via European shell companies. Intra-EU takeovers are normally exempt from such checks because of EU rules on free movement of capital within the bloc.

在該計(jì)劃下，歐盟成員國(guó)政府將有權(quán)阻止中資和其他外資企業(yè)的收購(gòu)，即使這些收購(gòu)交易是通過(guò)歐洲的殼公司進(jìn)行的。由于歐盟關(guān)于資本在歐盟內(nèi)部自由流動(dòng)的規(guī)定，歐盟內(nèi)的收購(gòu)?fù)ǔ６济庥谶@種審查。

Cotesa, which has about 750 employees and expects revenues this year of €65m, produces composite fibre parts used in Airbus’s long-range aircraft and in Boeing’s helicopters. Jörg Hüsken, its founder and managing director, told Handelsblatt newspaper that he had sought investors to fund an expansion but “the Chinese are the only ones who recognised our real potential”.

Cotesa擁有大約750名員工，2017年的收入預(yù)計(jì)將達(dá)到6500萬(wàn)歐元。Cotesa生產(chǎn)空客遠(yuǎn)程飛機(jī)和波音直升機(jī)使用的復(fù)合纖維部件。該公司創(chuàng)始人和董事總經(jīng)理約爾格•許斯肯(Jörg Hüsken)告訴《德國(guó)商報(bào)》(Handelsblatt)，他曾尋找投資者為該公司的擴(kuò)張?zhí)峁┵Y金，但“中國(guó)人是唯一認(rèn)可我們真正潛力的人”。

China Iron & Steel’s goal is to use Cotesa to supply China’s state-owned aircraft-maker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, also known as Comac.

中國(guó)鋼研科技集團(tuán)的目標(biāo)是利用Cotesa為中國(guó)國(guó)有的飛機(jī)制造商中國(guó)商飛(Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China)供應(yīng)部件。