中國公司赴美投資收購爲何屢次碰壁
As growth slows at home, more and more Chinese companies are looking to do Deals in the United States. And they are increasingly running smack into the American national security apparatus.
隨着國內經濟增長放緩，越來越多的中國企業試圖在美國做交易。但他們正在越來越頻繁地撞上美國國家安全機器的南牆。
Such scrutiny will have implications for United States and China relations, as well as for mergers and acquisitions more broadly.
這種嚴苛的審覈將會對美中關係形成衝擊，並對更廣泛的併購活動造成影響。
The latest Chinese deal to feel the chill from Washington was a planned $3.78 billion investment by the Tsinghua Unisplendour Corporation of China in the American hard disk drive maker Western Digital. On Tuesday, Tsinghua said it was abandoning the purchase of a 15 percent stake in Western Digital, citing a decision by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review the deal.
感受到華盛頓這股寒意的最新一宗中美交易，是中國公司清華紫光投資美國硬盤驅動生產商西部數據(Western Digital)37.8億美元的計劃。本週二，清華紫光表示將放棄收購西部數據15%的股份，援引的理由是美國外國投資委員會(Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States)決定對該交易進行審覈。
What is this government body that holds such power?
是什麼樣的政府機構擁有這樣的權力呢？
The committee, better known by the acronym Cfius, has a long history, going back to the Exon-Florio amendment of 1988. At that time, there were concerns about Japanese acquisitions in the United States, a fear whose legacy is several mediocre movies like “Rising Sun,” a tale about Japanese corporate corruption, and the comedy “Gung Ho,” which starred Michael Keaton as an executive at a car plant struggling under Japanese ownership.
該委員會的縮寫Cfius更爲常見。它的歷史比較悠久，可以追溯到1988年的埃克森-弗羅里奧修正案(Exon-Florio)。當時，日本企業在美國的收購行爲引起了人們的擔心。這種憂慮催生了幾部平庸的電影，比如描述日本企業腐敗現象的《旭日》(Rising Sun)，還有喜劇《超級魔鬼幹部》(Gung Ho)。邁克爾·基頓(Michael Keaton)在後一部片子裏扮演日本汽車廠的高管，在日本老闆手下苟延殘喘。
Since then, Cfius has grown increasingly powerful. In 2006, an uproar erupted over DP World of Dubai’s acquisition of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, a British company that owned ports in the United States. Washington lawmakers from both parties attacked the deal, choosing to ignore that the United Arab Emirates is an ally of the United States. Congress again acted to give Cfius even broader reach. DP World soon sold the American P.&O. ports.
從那時起，Cfius的權力越來越大。2006年，迪拜環球港務集團(DP World)準備收購在美國擁有多座港口的英國企業鐵行輪船公司(Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company)，引發了一片譁然。華盛頓的兩黨議員均對這宗交易進行了抨擊，選擇性地忽略阿聯酋是美國盟友的事實。國會再次採取行動，授予Cfius更大的權限。迪拜環球港務集團很快就出售了鐵行輪船在美國的港口。
Last week, Cfius issued its annual report for actions in 2014. The interagency body — it includes representatives from the Treasury, Justice and Defense Departments — is a bit secretive. All its filings are confidential, it doesn’t have a building in Washington and it lags an entire year in reporting figures.
上週，Cfius發佈了2014年度的行動報告。這個跨機構的組織由財政部、司法部和國防部的代表組成，行事有點遮遮掩掩。所有的申請都是保密的，它在華盛頓沒有辦公樓，公佈的數據滯後了整整一年。
Potential foreign acquirers make a filing for a national security review. In 2014 there was a record high of 147 filings, up from 97 in 2013. The increase in 2014 was mainly a result of acquisitions in manufacturing, primarily technology. The most filings were by China with 24. Next was Britain with 21, and after that was Canada with 15. (Yes, even our closest allies are subject to Cfius review.)
國家安全審查申請由潛在的外國買家提出。2014年，Cfius共收到147份申請，創歷史新高，而2013年爲97份。2014年的增長大多是製造業收購案所致，主要是科技製造業。提出申請最多的國家是中國，有24份，其次是英國的21份，然後是加拿大的15份。（是的，即使我們最親密的盟友也受到Cfius的審覈。）
Once a filing is made, the committee can decide to do nothing or investigate further to see if the transaction presents a national security problem. In 2014, there was a record high of 51 investigations, fully a third of all filings.
接到申請後，Cfius可以決定什麼也不做，或展開進一步調查，以確定這項交易是否存在國家安全隱患。2014年，該委員會創下歷史新高，對51項申請展開了調查，佔所有申請的三分之一。
After an investigation, if Cfius finds that the transaction has a national security issue, it will make a recommendation to the president, who can then decide to block the deal.
調查結束後，如果Cfius發現交易存在國家安全問題，就會給美國總統提出建議，後者可以決定阻止這項交易。
But Cfius rarely gets that far. There has been only one presidential action to block a transaction in the last five years. That was the 2012 acquisition of a wind farm by a Chinese company. Why would a wind farm implicate national security? Well, it was too close to a military base.
但Cfius很少會走到那一步。過去五年，只出現過一次由美國總統採取行動來阻止交易的情況。那是在2012年，當時有一家中國公司試圖收購美國一座風電場。風電場怎麼會和國家安全扯上關係？這個嘛，原因是它太靠近一座軍事基地。
Instead, what typically happens is that Cfius signals to the acquirer that it will recommend against the transaction. In that case the acquirer will withdraw the transaction to avoid the public stain of a full presidential action.
實際上，更常見的情況是，Cfius給收購方發出信號，表示它會建議否定這項交易。此種情況下，收購方會主動撤回收購意向，以避免被美國總統採取阻止交易的行動，留下人盡皆知的污點。
This is what happened in the case of Western Digital. Similarly, Cfius has acted to block an acquisition of a gold mine by a Chinese company because it too was too close to a military base. Philips withdrew the sale of its lighting subsidiary last year under similar concerns.
清華紫光對西部數據的收購申請就是遭遇了這種情況。類似的，Cfius因一座金礦太靠近軍事基地而阻止一家中國公司對它進行收購。出於同樣的原因，飛利浦(Philips)去年撤銷了出售旗下一家照明產品子公司的計劃。
Some pending deals are coming into Cfius’s cross hairs. The biggest is China National Chemical Corporation’s $43 billion acquisition of Syngenta, a Swiss giant in farm chemicals and seeds with big operations in the United States.
有一些懸而未決的交易正在進入Cfius的瞄準範圍。其中最大的一宗是中國化工集團公司收購先正達(Syngenta)的計劃，價值430億美元。這家瑞典公司是農用化肥和種子生產領域的巨頭，在美國有多處大型分支機構。
It may seem odd that an agriculture company would become a matter for national security, but this is all about food technology. The market is betting that Cfius is almost certainly going to require divestitures or restrictions on access of the Chinese company to Syngenta’s American operations and technology.
這看似有些奇怪，一家農業公司會牽涉國家安全，但它關乎的其實是食品技術問題。市場猜測，Cfius幾乎肯定會要求進行資產剝離，或者限制這家中國公司得到先正達在美國的分支機構和技術。
But it is not just food technology. Chongqing Casin Enterprise Group’s agreement to acquire the Chicago Stock Exchange has been met with heated protest. Forty-five members of Congress have sent a letter to Cfius asking the committee to block the deal on “transparency” concerns, namely that the Chinese economy and buyer are opaque and that providing access to American market and trading technology might harm the United States.
然而，不是隻有食品技術纔會如此。重慶財信企業集團收購芝加哥證券交易所(Chicago Stock Exchange)的申請就遭到了強烈的抗議。45位議員給Cfius發了一封聯名信，要求該委員會阻止這項交易，原因是有關“透明度”方面的顧慮，即中國經濟和買家是不透明的，給他們提供進入美國市場和進行技術交易的機會，有可能會給美國造成傷害。
Expect tensions to get worse. Chinese companies are desperate to get dollars out of China in anticipation of a further slide in its currency. Foreign acquisitions are an easy solution, since they are encouraged by the Chinese government. And American sellers are willing to take the risk. Indeed, pending now is Tianjin Tianhai’s $6 billion deal for the technology distributor Ingram Micro, which would be the largest Chinese acquisition of an American technology company.
這種摩擦還會加劇。中國企業目前急於將資金放到中國以外的地方，因爲他們預計本國的貨幣還會進一步貶值。海外併購是個比較容易的解決辦法，因爲中國政府對這種行爲持鼓勵態度。美國賣家也願意承擔其中的風險。實際上，中國航運集團天津天海即將達成的以60億美元收購技術分銷商英邁(Ingram Micro)的交易，將會是中國在美國進行的最大的一宗科技企業收購。
To be sure, Cfius actually approves most acquisitions, even the Chinese ones. For example, it approved the acquisition of Smithfield Foods and the battery maker A123 despite some protest.
當然，Cfius 實際上通過了大部分的交易申請，甚至包括中國公司提出的那些。比如，儘管有人提出抗議，它還是批准了對史密斯菲爾德食品公司(Smithfield Foods)和對電池生產商A123的收購。
These types of national security reviews also occur in other countries, including China, and can sometimes take on an absurdist flavor. Canada, for example, reviewed Burger King’s acquisition of Tim Hortons, its national coffeehouse chain, on national security grounds. France famously stated that it would not allow the acquisition of Danone, since the yogurt maker was a national champion.
其他國家也有這類針對國家安全的審覈，包括中國，而且有時候還會顯得有些荒誕。比如，加拿大就以國家安全爲由，對漢堡王(Burger King)收購該國咖啡連鎖店蒂姆-霍頓斯(Tim Hortons)一事進行了審覈。法國曾出了名地表示，它不會允許外國公司收購達能(Danone)，因爲這家酸奶生產商是國寶。
But we are entering into a new phase with Chinese acquisitions. The United States’ national security service, never considered a transparent process, is going to have to grapple with how far it can allow these Chinese companies to go. When is food technology important? Is a stock market really something that needs protection, particularly one that is dying?
不過，在中國企業的收購申請方面，我們正進入一個新的階段。一直被認爲不透明的美國國家安全審覈，將要面對在多大程度上給中國企業放行的難題。食品技術什麼時候成了重要的問題？證券交易所真的需要保護嗎，尤其是那麼一家快要倒閉的？
If you want to know how heated these debates can become, think about what is going on with Apple now and the controversy over whether it should be forced to unlock an iPhone. Then imagine a foreign company is substituted for Apple.
如果你想知道這些爭論未來會激烈到什麼程度，可以想想眼下蘋果正在經歷的事，想想就是否該強迫蘋果公司解鎖一部iPhone產生的爭議。然後想象一下，把其中的蘋果替換成一家外國企業。
Would it be better to let the money in, as we did with the Japanese, and watch them overspend and mismanage? After all, even in the best of times foreign acquisitions are difficult. And it may just be that this money and new viewpoint will make American companies better.
讓外國資金進來，然後看他們超支和管理不善，會是更好的選擇嗎？就像我們以前對待日本人那樣。畢竟，就算是在經濟形勢最好的時候，外資收購也並不容易。而且，情況也可能是，這些錢和新的視角會讓美國企業變得更好。
And ultimately, there is the issue of xenophobia and commerce. These acquisitions create value for the United States. Is blocking them based on rationality, or simply on fear?
最根本的，還存在着這是排外還是商業考量的問題。這些收購交易能爲美國創造價值。我們是基於理性判斷在阻止它們，還是隻是出於恐懼？
Deal-making, particularly cross-border deal-making, is always hard, but it is about to get much harder over the next few years as the United States decides how vigorous its national security review process will be. This will be a debate that will primarily be about China.
達成交易，尤其是跨國交易，總是很難的，但在接下來的幾年裏，它會變得更難。美國會決定它就國家安全問題進行的審覈會嚴格到什麼程度，而這方面的爭議將主要和中國有關。
