Lex報告:中印海外收購反差明顯
Alongside a currency plunge and softening economic growth, cross-border M&A was a source of ignominy for India in 2013. Apollo Tyres attempted to buy the larger, US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber for $2.5bn in cash. Apollo’s shareholders immediately panned the deal, given the debt required. To the relief of those shareholders, labour difficulties at Cooper will probably prohibit it anyway.
2013年印度不僅經歷了匯率下跌以及經濟增長疲軟，跨境併購也是一大恥辱來源。印度阿波羅輪胎公司(Apollo Tyres)試圖收購總部位於美國、規模更大的固鉑輪胎橡膠公司(Cooper Tire & Rubber)，出價爲25億美元現金。阿波羅的股東很快批評了這項交易，因爲由此導致的債務負擔過重。讓這些股東鬆一口氣的是，固鉑的勞資困境很可能導致交易無法達成。Yet the reputational damage to Indian acquirers will linger and will sting even more when set against another notable M&A milestone – China’s completion of its largest US buyout.
但此事對印度收購方聲譽的負面影響將持續存在，並在與另一個海外併購里程碑對比時更令人痛心——中國企業完成了其在美國的最大規模收購。Apollo saw the Cooper acquisition as the quickest route to becoming a global tire player. The combined company would have been the seventh largest tire manufacturer in the world by sales. But the deal required a pile of debt in a highly cyclical business. US merger agreements are typically airtight but unions baulked at the deal, which provided a window for Apollo to ask for a lower price or simply walk away. For Apollo it is an escape. But the outcome casts doubt on the credibility of Indian buyers. The labour hang-up should have been anticipated and resolved during the due diligence phase.
阿波羅將收購固鉑視爲成爲一家全球輪胎企業的最快途徑。合併後的公司將成爲全球按銷售額計算第七大的輪胎製造商。但這項交易需要阿波羅揹負大量債務，而輪胎製造是一個高度週期性的行業。美國的併購協議通常是無懈可擊的，但工會對這筆交易感到不滿，因爲它爲阿波羅提供了一個要求降低收購價格或者乾脆放棄的機會。對於阿波羅來說，這將是一種解脫。但由此導致的後果是印度收購方的信譽受到懷疑。阿波羅應當預見到勞工問題，並在盡職調查階段將其解決。
Juxtapose the Apollo/Cooper fiasco against Shuanghui’s $5bn purchase of American pork processor Smithfield. In spite of Congressional scepticism of Chinese motives – a headwind that Indian buyers do not face – the largest Chinese takeover of a US company passed scrutiny. Shuanghui secured financing of $7bn and is poised to list its shares.
將阿波羅收購固鉑的慘敗與雙匯斥資50億美元成功收購美國豬肉加工商史密斯菲爾德食品公司(Smithfield Foods)並列對比。雖然美國國會有人對中方的收購動機表示懷疑——印度收購方沒有面對這樣的阻力——但這項中國對美國企業的最大規模收購通過了審查。雙匯獲得了70億美元融資，並將掛牌上市。Chinese M&A abroad has steadily marched upward in the past decade, reaching $70bn in 2013. In contrast, India’s activity has more sharply ebbed and flowed. Volume is only about $10bn in 2013. Judging by the respective outcomes in these two deals, the gap makes sense.
在過去十年中，中國的海外併購規模穩步走高，2013年達到了700億美元。相比之下，印度的海外併購活動起伏較大，2013年的規模僅爲100億美元。從以上兩項交易的不同結果來看，難怪中印兩國在海外併購領域存在巨大差距。
