日本在美开始最大的企业并购狂欢 |《金融时报》

Deal flow in first nine months set to surpass 1990 boom year

前9个月的交易地超过1990繁荣年

© Bloomberg（©彭博社）

Kana Inagaki and Leo Lewis in Tokyo AN HOUR AGO

稻垣佳娜和利奥·刘易斯在东京 一小时前

Japan is on track this year for its biggest acquisition spree in the US as advisers tell CEOs to pounce on deals while Chinese companies are “handicapped” by trade war tensions.

当中国公司受到贸易战紧张局势 “妨碍”的时候，正如顾问们告诉总经理们要利用时机，日本今年开始在美国最大的收购狂欢

The advice of bankers and lawyers to accelerate US-targeted deals has intensified over recent months in line with both the surge in trade war rhetoric and the perception that Chinese acquisition attempts will be stymied by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, the agency that vets foreign investment for national security threats.

最近几个月，银行家和律师以美国为目标的交易的建议，随着贸易战言论激增以及中国的收购企图将受到美国外国投资审查委员会（为国家安全可能受到的威胁而审查外国投资的机构）阻碍的看法的出现而增多。

The advice already appears to be having an effect. Japanese companies have spent ¥4.7tn ($42bn) via 177 deals in the US since January 1, which puts them on track to beat a previous record of 178 deals set in the first nine months of 1990, according Tokyo-based research group Recof.

这种建议已经产生效果。依照位于东京的咨询公司Recof的统计，自2018年1月1日起，日本企业通过在美国的177次交易，已经花费4.7万亿日元（420亿美元），这使日本企业即将打破1990年前9个月178次并购交易的先前记录。

“I certainly tell my clients in many industries that they are essentially free from Chinese competition for US assets at the moment. Five years ago, in every auction, there would be a Chinese bidder that was willing to pay 30 per cent more than everyone else,” said Kenneth Lebrun, a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Shearman & Sterling in Tokyo.

“我确定地告诉我在许多产业的客户，他们目前已经消除了对美国资产的并购中来自中国的竞争。5年前，在每次拍卖中，总会有一家中国投标人愿意支付超过其余任何人30%的价格，”一名在东京的美国谢尔曼·思特灵律师事务所（Shearman & Sterling）的兼并和收购律师，肯尼思·莱布伦（Kenneth Lebrun）说道。

In the face of fewer strategic buyers from China, Yoshinobu Agu, Citigroup’s head of M&A division in Japan, added: “For Japanese companies, the strongest competitor could now be another Japanese buyer.”

面对来自中国的战略买家数量下降的情况，花旗集团在日本的企业并购部主管吉诺布·阿古（Yoshinobu Agu）补充道：“现在对日本企业来说，最强的竞争者会是另一家日本买家。”

The rise in US deals was highlighted by last week’s $7.2 deal by chipmaker Renesas Electronics for US rival Integrated Device Technology.

上周，芯片制造商瑞萨电子（Renesas Electronics）对美国竞争对手艾迪悌科技有限公司（Integrated Device Technology）72亿美元的并购交易，凸显了日本企业在美并购交易的增长。

Earlier in the year, Asahi Kasei agreed to buy US-based Sage Automotive Interiors for $1.1bn including debt, and Recruit Holdings also clinched a $1.2bn deal for US job hunting service Glassdoor.

今年早些时候，旭化成株式会社（Asahi Kasei）同意以11亿美元（包含债务）的价格收购位于美国的鼠尾草汽车内饰公司（Sage Automotive Interiors），同时瑞可利集团(Recruit Holdings)也决定以12亿美元收购美国猎头公司Glassdoor。

One senior M&A banker in Tokyo, currently involved in a Japanese acquisition in the US, said: “Japanese companies do not need much to be convinced this is a sweet spot — they believe they are perceived as a “safe” buyer by the US authorities.”

一位目前参与一宗日方在美收购的位于东京的资深企业并购银行家说：“日本企业不太需要相信自己处于最佳的竞购位置——他们相信，对美国政府而言，他们被认为是一种“安全”买家。”

That belief, he added, has been enhanced by recent instances where Chinese companies found acquisitions blocked by Cfius. The most prominent was its statement that Broadcom’s proposed $142bn takeover of Qualcomm could pose a national security threat.

他补充道，在目前的案例中，由于中国企业发现美国外国投资审查委员会阻碍其收购，日本企业的这种信念已经被加强。最著名的案例是，对博通公司（Broadcom）企图以1420亿美元并购高通公司（Qualcomm），美国外国投资审查委员会声称这会构成对国家安全的威胁。

But one Tokyo-based M&A lawyer warned that Japanese companies were likely to see the current window as narrow: “I am already hearing general counsels expressing concerns that Cfius could eventually start making life difficult for Japanese companies too,” he said.

但是一位在东京的并购律师警告说，日本企业的机遇之窗可能会收窄：“我已经听到总法律顾问表达了担心，即美国外国投资审查委员最终也会开始让日本企业的日子难过”。

Aggressive Chinese investors such as HNA, Dalian Wanda and Anbang Insurance have recently sold many of the overseas assets they had recently purchased amid Chinese government concerns over excessive leverage among large corporations.

在中国政府关注在大企业过度杠杆化的背景之下，锐意进取的中国投资者比如海航集团（HNA），大连万达以及安邦保险，最近已经出售了不久前购买的许多海外资产。

“US companies are handicapping Chinese bids after Anbang and HNA. There has been a degree of unpredictability to Chinese buyers while Japanese companies are seen as solid and steady,” Mr Lebrun said.

“在安邦和海航事件之后，美国公司正在妨碍中国出价。中国买家存在一定程度的不可预测性，但是日本企业被看做可靠和稳定的买家”莱布伦说道。

Still, M&A experts warn that Japanese deals in the US also face the risk of being blocked by Chinese competition regulators, as was the case in the collapse of Qualcomm’s $44bn takeover of Netherlands-based NXP Semiconductors.

然而，并购专家警告道，日本在美国的并购也面临被中国竞争监管机构的阻碍，就像高通440亿美元收购位于荷兰的恩智浦半导体公司（NXP Semiconductors）的失败案例。

A test case would be whether Renesas-IDT deal wins regulatory approval in both the US and China.

瑞萨电子——艾迪悌科技有限公司的交易是否会获得中美两方监管机构的同意，会成为一个起测验作用的案例。

 “IDT and Renesas each looked into the situation and both of us were convinced that the risk is small enough,” said Bunsei Kure, the chief executive of Renesas.

“艾迪悌科技有限公司和瑞萨电子分别调查了这种情况，我们都确信风险足够小，”萨瑞电子总裁吴文精（Bunsei Kure）说道。

Gregory Waters, the chief executive of IDT, added: “Otherwise, neither of us will do it. In regards to the relative friendliness of Japanese cross-border transactions, we believe it is frankly true and distinctively more so than other countries.”

艾迪悌科技有限公司总裁格雷戈里·沃特斯（Gregory Waters）补充道：“如果不是这样，我们两个公司就不会做这个生意。就日本企业相对容易的跨境交易而言，我们相信，比起其它国家来确实是这样的。”）

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2018. All rights reserved.

（著作权 金融时报有限公司2018。版权所有。）