全球併購類債券發行量創紀錄

Debt issued to fund mergers and acquisitions has reached a record high, as companies look to take advantage of cheap financing ahead of a rise in US interest rates.

爲併購融資發行的債券規模達到創紀錄高位，原因在於各企業希望在美國加息前利用廉價融資。

The debt financing surge comes as mature companies face a growth challenge, given meagre revenue expansion. Earnings for S&P 500 companies are on track for their worst performance since the second quarter of 2009, under pressure from a strong dollar and a slowdown in China’s economy that has also weighed on commodity prices.

在債券融資飆升之際，由於收入擴張乏力，成熟公司正面臨增長挑戰。由於面臨強勁美元以及中國經濟放緩的壓力，標準普爾500指數(S&P 500)成分股的收益即將創下自2009年第二季度以來最糟表現，中國經濟放緩還令大宗商品價格承壓。

Low borrowing costs, driven down by central banks’ quantitative easing programmes, provide an opportunity to create a return for shareholders via debt-financed mergers and acquisitions, as well as share buybacks.

央行的量化寬鬆計劃推低了借款成本，這給通過由債券融資的併購以及股票回購爲股東創造回報提供了機會。

Ahead of policy tightening by the US Federal Reserve expected in the coming months, companies have raised $290bn of debt to buy competitors this year — almost triple the level in the same period in 2014. The number of issues, however, has risen only 46 per cent, so the average size has been much larger, according to figures released on Tuesday by Dealogic, the data company.

在美聯儲(Fed)收緊貨幣政策（預計將在未來幾個月開始）之前，企業今年發行了2900億美元的債券用於收購，幾乎是去年同期的3倍。然而，根據數據機構Dealogic週二公佈的數據，發行總量僅增長46%，因此平均規模要比以前大的多。

“A lot of the issuance we are seeing is being driven by shareholder-friendly activity, either M&A or share repurchase,” said Richard Cheng, managing director and portfolio manager responsible for investment-grade credit at TIAA-CREF.

美國教師退休基金會(TIAA-CREF)投資級信貸業務的董事總經理兼資產組合經理理查德程(Richard Cheng)表示：“我們看到，很多債券發行是由有利於股東的活動推動的，要麼是併購，要麼是股票回購。”

According to the Dealogic, 83 per cent of acquisition-related bonds were sold in the US. Because shares in the US are trading at a high price — the S&P 500 is valued at an estimated 17 times earnings, according to Bloomberg — companies are having to issue more debt to complete deals.

根據Dealogic的數據，在與併購相關的債券中，有83%是在美國發行的。因爲美國股價較高（根據彭博(Bloomberg)的數據，據估計，標準普爾500指數的市盈率爲17倍），企業不得不發行更多債券完成併購交易。

In the first half of the year there were $987.7bn of deals in the US, according to Thomson Reuters data, the highest since records began in 1980.

根據湯森路透(Thomson Reuters)的數據，今年上半年，美國併購交易規模爲9877億美元，爲自1980年有記錄以來最高。