Lex專欄：螞蟻金服收購(gòu)速匯金失敗的啟示

It is time to face reality on cross-border M&A. Alibaba founder Jack Ma cosied up to the Trump administration earlier and more extensively than other business leaders. The flattery failed to deliver the goods. On Tuesday, the $1.2bn takeover of MoneyGram by Ant Financial, controlled by Mr Ma, was scuppered on national security concerns.

是時(shí)候面對(duì)跨境并購(gòu)的現(xiàn)實(shí)了。阿里巴巴(Alibaba)創(chuàng)始人馬云(Jack Ma)比其他商業(yè)領(lǐng)袖更早、更賣力地向特朗普政府獻(xiàn)殷勤。這樣的奉承未能帶來(lái)好的結(jié)果。周二，馬云控制的螞蟻金服(Ant Financial)以12億美元收購(gòu)速匯金(MoneyGram)的交易被美國(guó)外國(guó)投資委員會(huì)(CFIUS)以國(guó)家安全為由否決。

It has been obvious for some time that Chinese bids for US semiconductor assets are futile. With the demise of this payments merger, any Chinese company wanting to buy anything of significance in the US should give up.

一段時(shí)間以來(lái)很明顯的是，中國(guó)企業(yè)對(duì)美國(guó)半導(dǎo)體資產(chǎn)的競(jìng)購(gòu)是徒勞的。在這起支付服務(wù)并購(gòu)交易告吹之后，所有想要在美國(guó)收購(gòu)任何具有重要意義的東西的中國(guó)企業(yè)都應(yīng)該放棄。

The work of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US is opaque and the MoneyGram deal may have faced scrutiny under the Obama administration over data security but it is hard not to detect the influence of China hawks in the administration.

美國(guó)外國(guó)投資委員會(huì)的工作是不透明的，在奧巴馬政府時(shí)期，這樣一筆收購(gòu)速匯金的交易可能會(huì)在數(shù)據(jù)安全方面受到嚴(yán)格審查，但很難忽略政府中對(duì)華鷹派的影響。

US companies active in China should be wary of repercussions. And any US recipient of Chinese bid interest should engage only with extreme caution. After accepting $800m, or $13.25 a share, from Ant in January last year, MoneyGram then received a $15.20 a share offer from Euronet Worldwide, which despite its name is based in Kansas City. It is hard to criticise MoneyGram for preferring Ant’s subsequent $18 a share counter-offer but in hindsight that was the one to take.

在中國(guó)活躍的美國(guó)企業(yè)應(yīng)該警惕負(fù)面反響。任何收到中國(guó)企業(yè)競(jìng)購(gòu)意向的美國(guó)企業(yè)都應(yīng)該以極度謹(jǐn)慎的態(tài)度來(lái)應(yīng)對(duì)。在去年1月收到螞蟻金服每股13.25美元、合計(jì)8.8億美元的收購(gòu)要約之后，速匯金收到了Euronet Worldwide每股15.2美元的要約。盡管名字中帶有“世界”(Worldwide)，但Euronet Worldwide是一家總部位于堪薩斯城的企業(yè)。MoneyGram更青睞螞蟻金服在之后提出的每股18美元的要約無(wú)可指摘，但事后看來(lái)它應(yīng)該接受Euronet Worldwide的要約。

Does Euronet knock again? The company has long coveted MoneyGram, including a failed hostile bid (at $1.65bn) a decade ago. Without a rival bidder, though, Euronet can afford to wait for a better buying opportunity: MoneyGram’s shares fell only 5 per cent on the end of the Ant deal. That may reflect too much optimism on the part of the MoneyGram shareholders that a looser partnership with Ant, announced alongside the demise of the merger, can open up growth opportunities.

Euronet會(huì)再嘗試收購(gòu)速匯金嗎?Euronet長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)一直渴望把速匯金收入囊中，10年前還曾對(duì)該公司發(fā)起惡意收購(gòu)(報(bào)價(jià)16.5億美元)未果。然而，在沒(méi)有競(jìng)購(gòu)對(duì)手的情況下，Euronet可以等待更好的收購(gòu)機(jī)會(huì)：在螞蟻金服收購(gòu)交易失敗之后，速匯金的股價(jià)只下跌了5%。這可能反映出，對(duì)速匯金和螞蟻金服在收購(gòu)交易失敗之際宣布雙方建立更松散合作關(guān)系一事，速匯金股東過(guò)于樂(lè)觀，認(rèn)為這種合作可能帶來(lái)增長(zhǎng)機(jī)會(huì)。

In accepting the Ant bid, MoneyGram had to state why it might not prosper on its own. It made a worryingly compelling case, including the risk of relying on Walmart for almost a fifth of its revenues and its burdensome junk-rated debt.

接受螞蟻金服收購(gòu)要約時(shí)，速匯金必須說(shuō)明為何僅靠自身無(wú)法成功。速匯金陳述的理由是強(qiáng)有力的，這令人擔(dān)憂，它的理由包括其近五分之一的收入依賴沃爾瑪(Walmart)而導(dǎo)致的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，及其垃圾債務(wù)帶來(lái)的沉重負(fù)擔(dān)。