Lex專欄：吉利入股戴姆勒的好處

Li Shufu cannot be accused of paying over the odds to hobnob with German high-ups. He has been invited to the federal chancellery, according to German media, after Zhejiang Geely Holding, which he chairs, took a $9bn stake in Daimler.

不能指責(zé)李書福為了與德國高層結(jié)交而出高價(jià)收購戴姆勒(Daimler)。據(jù)德國媒體報(bào)道，在浙江吉利控股(Zhejiang Geely Holding)收購戴姆勒價(jià)值90億美元的股份后，其董事長李書福收到了德國聯(lián)邦總理府的邀請。

The Chinese car company will pay much less in cash than the headline figure. And the exposure to German manufacturing and marketing should be worth it, as a 6.5 per cent jump in the shares on Monday signalled.

這家中國汽車公司支付的現(xiàn)金將遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)低于這一總體數(shù)字。吉利由此得到打入德國制造業(yè)和進(jìn)行品牌營銷的機(jī)會(huì)，所以這筆交易應(yīng)該是劃算的，周一其股價(jià)上漲了6.5%就是證明。

The transaction uses a “funded equity collar” designed by engineers of the financial variety. Derivatives deals limit gains and losses on the 9.7 per cent strategic stake. That makes the financing of the purchase nearly riskless and therefore cheap for Geely. The net outlay the Chinese group will pay on top of the loan value should be modest compared with the stake value. The ratio has not been disclosed. Groups such as HNA have used this trick in the past.

這筆交易使用了金融工程師設(shè)計(jì)的“融資股權(quán)領(lǐng)口”(funded equity collar)。衍生品交易把這筆9.7%的戰(zhàn)略股份的收益與損失限定在一定范圍內(nèi)。這使此次收購的融資幾乎沒有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，因此吉利的融資成本很低。在貸款獲得的資金之外，吉利還需凈支付的金額與股份價(jià)值相比應(yīng)當(dāng)很小。這一比率尚未公布。海航(HNA)等集團(tuán)過去就曾使用過這種方式。

Daimler and Geely are both doing well despite a slowing Chinese market. It is the German premium car group’s largest, at 25 per cent of unit sales last year. Geely’s revenues grew by a quarter annually in the past five years and the group is anxious to go global.

盡管中國市場放緩，但戴姆勒和吉利的業(yè)績都不錯(cuò)。中國是德國高檔汽車集團(tuán)戴姆勒最大的市場，去年銷量占戴姆勒整體銷量的25%。過去5年，吉利的收入每年增長25%，同時(shí)該集團(tuán)也渴望向全球市場進(jìn)軍。

Collaboration in China is unlikely, given that Daimler has joint ventures with BAIC and BYD. The German group just announced Rmb11.9bn ($1.9bn) of shared investment with BAIC, a Beijing-based automotive group. If Mr Li joins the Daimler board, he can at least take notes on how to take his successful mass-market brand overseas. The German group will be wary of sharing its technology with him. But a partnership could still help boost returns on heavy spending on electric and self-driving cars.

考慮到戴姆勒與北汽(BAIC)和比亞迪(BYD)都成立了合資企業(yè)，吉利不大可能再與戴姆勒在中國合作。戴姆勒剛剛宣布與北京的北汽集團(tuán)共同投資119億元人民幣(合19億美元)。如果李書福加入戴姆勒董事會(huì)，他至少可以學(xué)習(xí)如何把自己成功的大眾市場品牌帶到海外。戴姆勒在與李書福分享自身技術(shù)時(shí)將十分謹(jǐn)慎。但雙方的合作仍有助于提高電動(dòng)與自動(dòng)駕駛汽車巨額支出的回報(bào)率。

Mr Li’s interest in Daimler was long advertised and was rebuffed in October. The balance of advantage should mainly accrue to Geely, hence its persistence. Mr Li had better ready a line on the advantages of the deal to Daimler for when he meets chancellery officials.

李書福對戴姆勒的興趣早已廣為人知，但在去年10月卻曾遭到戴姆勒方面的拒絕。這筆交易的主要受益方是吉利，因此吉利堅(jiān)持不懈。李書福最好準(zhǔn)備好一套關(guān)于這筆交易對戴姆勒的好處的說辭，好在會(huì)見德國總理府官員時(shí)告訴他們。