清華紫光收購美芯片廠商障礙重重

Micron Technology Is Said to Be Takeover Target of Chinese Company

清華紫光收購美芯片廠商障礙重重

HONG KONG — It is either the first step in the largest takeover of an American company by a Chinese one or a new chapter in the emerging technological cold war between the two countries.

香港——這要麼是中國企業收購美國企業金額最大的一宗行動中的第一步，要麼是美中兩國日益加劇的技術冷戰中的新的一章。

Tsinghua Unigroup, a state-owned company that is China's top chip maker, is preparing a $23 billion bid for Micron Technology, the United States maker of memory chips, according to a person briefed on the matter. The bid would dwarf the price of the closest such deal, the $4.7 billion paid by Shuanghui International Holdings of China to take over the American pork producer Smithfield Foods in 2013.

知情人士透露，清華紫光集團準備以230億美元（約合1400億元人民幣）的出價收購美光科技(Micron Technology)。國有的紫光集團是中國頂尖的芯片生產商，美光則是製造存儲芯片的美國企業。此次收購要約的金額遠遠超出了最爲接近的類似併購案，即中國企業雙匯國際控股有限公司在2013年以47億美元收購美國豬肉生產商史密斯菲爾德(Smithfield)的金額。

Yet obstacles abound to any takeover of Micron by Tsinghua Unigroup. In a report released on Tuesday, Credit Suisse said the deal was "highly unlikely to get past U.S. regulators who are increasingly viewing semiconductors as a strategic industry." Credit Suisse said a trade war was brewing between the United States and China over the production of chips, which serve as the brains of the billions of computers, phones and other devices.

不過清華紫光試圖收購美光的任何嘗試，都會遭遇很多阻礙。在週二發佈的一份報告中，瑞信(Credit Suisse)稱，這宗交易"得到美國監管部門批准的可能性極低。美國監管部門越來越多地認爲半導體是一個戰略性產業。"瑞信還稱，美國與中國之間圍繞芯片生產正在醞釀一場貿易戰。芯片的作用相當於數億臺電腦、手機和其他設備的大腦。

The political difficulties that could hurt any deal highlight a growing wariness by both China and the United States of technology produced by the other, and illustrate how critical to security even ordinary electronics have become.

任何交易都可能面對重重政治障礙，這突顯了中美雙方對於彼此的技術產品疑慮日益加強，此外也說明，即使是對普通的電子產品而言，安全問題也變得愈發關鍵。

Memory chips are where data resides in between computational tasks. While Micron is best known for bulk memory products that go into mobile phones and personal computers, the company, based in Boise, Idaho, also contributes to advanced systems for global data centers, high-performance computing and flash memory, considered essential for speedy analysis of tasks as varied as placing web ads and maintaining jet engines.

存儲芯片的用途是在計算任務執行期間貯存數據。總部位於愛達荷州博伊西的美光最著名的業務是爲移動電話和個人電腦提供大規模存儲產品。該公司也爲全世界的數據中心提供先進系統、高性能計算技術和閃存。這些產品被認爲有至關重要的意義，可用於對各種任務開展高速分析，包括投放網絡廣告和維護噴氣機引擎。

Micron sells chips with wires just 16 nanometers across, which is near the smallest width now commercially available and would probably be considered a leading-edge process technology by United States regulators. Micron is the last United States-based maker of such memory chips, with facilities in the United States and across Asia, but relatively little production in China. The loss of the ability to make advanced memory chips could even affect American security, according to some analysts.

美光銷售的芯片中包含的電路寬度只有16納米。這與市面有售的最小寬度相距不遠，因而很可能會被美國監管部門認爲是一種頂尖的加工技術。美光是總部在美國的最後一個生產此類存儲芯片的企業。公司在美國和亞洲各地都有生產廠，但在中國大陸的產能相對較小。一些分析人士認爲，如果失去製造先進存儲芯片的能力，甚至會對美國的安全造成影響。

When reached over the phone for comment, Tsinghua Unigroup's chairman, Zhao Weiguo, said, "I can only say we are interested in working with Micron."

在接到請求置評的採訪電話時，清華紫光董事長趙衛國說，"我只能說我們很有興趣與美光合作。"

"Micron does not comment on rumor or speculation," a company spokesman, Daniel Francisco, wrote in an email.

"美光不會就傳言或揣測發表評論，"該公司發言人丹尼爾·弗朗西斯科(Daniel Francisco)在電子郵件中寫道。

Another problem could be the size of the bid. Nam Hyung Kim, a memory analyst at the research group Arete, said it was too low and could indicate that the Chinese company was simply feeling out prices for companies that produce chips and memory. Micron was worth more than $23 billion just a few weeks ago, and about $35 billion late last year. The stock has been under pressure, partly from low consumer demand for PCs ahead of the release of Microsoft's new Windows operating system this month.

另一個問題可能在於收購要約的規模。研究集團Arete的存儲行業分析師金南衡（Nam Hyung Kim，音）稱出價太低，可能說明這家中國企業只是在試探生產芯片和存儲設備的各家企業的要價。就在幾周前，美光市值還曾超過230億美元，去年年底時該公司市值爲350億美元。該公司股價之所以承受壓力，部分原因在於微軟(Microsoft)將於本月發佈新版Windows操作系統，此時消費者對個人電腦的需求較低。

"I'm not sure they are even serious" about the price, he said.

"我不確定"他們的開價"到底是不是認真的，"他說。

"Yesterday a major shareholder said the company should be worth more than $40 billion," Mr. Kim said, referring to a note distributed on Monday by David Einhorn, the activist investor who heads Greenlight Capital and has built up a stake in Micron. "Given that, and the fact that Micron has good technology with a strong fundamental outlook, the price is way too low for them to even consider, from my view."

"昨天，美光的一位大股東表示，公司價值應該超過400億美元，"金南衡說。"考慮到這一點，加上美光有先進的技術，基本面前景也很好，在我看來，這個出價實在太低了，他們連考慮都不會考慮。"金南衡引述的是維權投資者戴維·艾因霍恩(David Einhorn)於週一發佈的一則通告。他是綠光資本(Greenlight Capital)的負責人，並逐步在美光持有了一定股份。

Simply by proposing a deal, Tsinghua Unigroup stands to gain status. Last September, Intel invested $1.5 billion in the company. Making Intel-type chips does not help Tsinghua much in manufacturing memory chips, which would require different, or vastly retooled, facilities.

單單是提出要約，清華紫光就可以提升聲望。去年9月，英特爾(Intel)向該公司投資15億美元。然而，生產英特爾那種芯片，對於存儲芯片的製造並不會起到多大幫助，後者需要不同的生產設施，或是做出大幅改造。

If a deal was rejected by American regulators, it would enable Beijing to claim that United States policies are restrictive to Chinese investment — undercutting complaints by the United States about blocks against American technology companies' operations in China.

如果美國監管機構否決這筆交易，北京方面就可以宣稱，美國對中國投資採取了限制性的政策——進而回擊美國政府的抱怨。美國表示，中國對美國科技企業在華的經營加以阻撓。

Willy C. Shih, a professor of technology and operations management at Harvard Business School, said an acquisition would save China years in catching up with industry leaders, like Samsung.

哈佛商學院(Harvard Business School)的科技和經營管理教授史兆威(Willy C. Shih)表示，收購一家企業，可以讓中國在追趕三星(Samsung)等業界領袖的過程中節省多年時間。

"The question is, if you're China and you want to have this capability, one of the ways to do it is to buy it," Mr. Shih said. "Tsinghua Unigroup has the cash because it's basically government money, so that's one way to do it."

"問題是，如果你是中國，而你想取得這種能力，那麼一種方式就是收購，"史兆威說。"清華紫光有現金，因爲那基本上是政府的錢，所以這就是其中的一種方式。"

Ye Ming, a spokesman for Tsinghua Unigroup, said on Tuesday that the company had no official announcement. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

清華紫光的發言人葉銘週二表示，公司並未發佈官方通告。最先報道該消息的是《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)。

If it materializes, the plan would be the strongest indication yet of the aggressiveness with which Beijing is pushing to build China's semiconductor industry. Partly because of export restrictions on the sophisticated tools and machines required to produce semiconductors, China's companies have lagged behind the global leaders. In 2013, China imported $232 billion of semiconductor materials, more than it spent on petroleum.

如果消息屬實，該計劃將是中國迄今發出的極力推動構築半導體產業的最強信號。中國企業與全球領先廠商之間存在差距，部分原因在於生產半導體所需的精密工具和機械有出口限制。2013年，中國進口了2320億美元的半導體材料，比進口石油的花費還多。

To address the imbalance, Beijing has vowed to spend big. Vice Premier Ma Kai heads a group with the task of making China's chip industry a global leader by 2030, and he is equipped with about $170 billion in government money to spend over the next decade, according to a report last year by McKinsey & Company.

爲了應對這種不平衡，北京承諾開展鉅額投資。副總理馬凱牽頭了一個工作組，目標是到2030年讓中國的芯片產業領先全球。麥肯錫(McKinsey & Company)去年發佈的一份報告稱，他未來十年可以支配的政府資金約合1700億美元。

The push has also raised security concerns. Leaks by the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden revealed how the United States used hardware produced outside China to snoop on the Chinese.

這番努力也引起了安全方面的擔憂。美國國家安全局前承包商僱員愛德華·J·斯諾登(Edward J. Snowden)披露的文件顯示，美國政府使用在中國之外生產的硬件窺探中國。

Over the last two years, Tsinghua Unigroup has emerged as a leader in China's semiconductor effort. As a subsidiary of Tsinghua Holdings, which controls companies spun off from China's top universities, it is closely connected to the government.

過去兩年裏，清華紫光在中國推動半導體產業的努力中成了一家領軍企業。作爲清華控股的子公司，紫光與政府關係密切。清華控股控制着從中國的頂尖大學剝離出來的多家企業。

All of that means the bid for Micron is likely to stir up scrutiny from American regulators, and in particular could prompt a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews company acquisitions that could pose a threat to American security. Even though the technology is not directly related to the military, the deal might receive scrutiny because it would effectively eliminate the last major American company to make memory chips.

所有這些都意味着，收購美光的要約大概會引起美國監管機構的關注，尤其可能會招致美國外國投資委員會(Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States)的審覈。該委員會負責審覈可能對美國安全構成威脅的企業併購行爲。儘管相關技術與軍方沒有直接聯繫，但是由於它實際上會消除最後一家制造存儲芯片的美國大型企業，所以仍然可能受到嚴密審覈。

"I think the U.S. should be concerned," said Mr. Shih, the Harvard professor. "One could say that maybe the Chinese want to keep Micron in Idaho. If they buy them, they'll likely be wanting to move the tech to China. So to me it just represents the loss of another U.S. capability."

"我想美國應該感到不安，"哈佛教授史兆威表示。"有人會說，或許中國人想讓美光留在愛達荷州。但既然買了，他們就可能想把技術轉移到中國。所以在我看來，那的確代表着美國損失又一項實力。"

The huge bid is also unusually aggressive for a Chinese state-run company, and analysts say it may shine a spotlight on how China uses a state-backed industrial policy to increase the technological capabilities of its companies.

對於中國國有企業來說，這次鉅額的收購要約也顯得異乎尋常地激進。分析人士表示，或許可以從中看出，中國會怎樣運用國家支持的產業政策來增強本國企業的技術實力。