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Lex
2006年12月21日 星期四
对于今年的全球并购活动，想不满意都难。来自Dealogic的数据显示，2006年，全球并购交易总额有望达到3.87万亿美元，较2005年增长29%，较2000年的前一个创纪录水平也高出16%。
It is hard not to feel that this is as good as it gets. Mergers and acquisitions in 2006 are set to total a record $3,870bn, 29 per more than last year and 16 per cent above the previous high in 2000, according to Dealogic.
自上一个周期以来，投资银行的服务费收入构成已经发生改变。今年，只有26%的服务费收入直接来自并购业务，低于2000年的36%。而债务产品收入占服务费总收入的比例则升至近50%，大大高于2000年的30%。然而，这并非一定意味着投资银行对并购业务的依赖程度有所下降。很多获利丰厚的杠杆借贷，就与私人股本公司的债务融资收购相关，而这种杠杆借贷大大提高了投资银行的债券资本市场收入。
The mix of fees has changed since the last cycle. This year, only 26 per cent of fees came directly from M&A, compared with 36 per cent in 2000. Fees from debt products accounted for nearly 50 per cent of the total, compared with 30 per cent in 2000. This does not necessarily mean that investment banks are less reliant on M&A. Much highly profitable leveraged lending, which has pushed up debt capital markets revenues, is linked to debt-financed private equity acquisitions
健康的债券市场为收购提供了融资支持，而健康的股票市场则提升了股价和企业信心。然而，一旦债市或股市当前的有利环境出现变化，那么，计划在明年上半年进行的大量交易就有可能受到影响。当然，如果没有发生这种破坏性变化，那么，并购活动将丝毫不会显示出放缓的迹象。
Certainly, a shift in the benign conditions in the debt markets, which help to finance acquisitions, or the equity markets, which are buoying up share prices and corporate confidence, could scupper the healthy flow of deals planned for the first half of next year. But without such disruptions, activity shows no sign of abating.
从医药行业（在这里，研发支出并未产生人们期望的畅销药物），到石油行业（在这里，勘探机会越来越少，勘探难度越来越大），几乎所有行业中的公司都面临进行并购交易的压力。欧洲和美国的投资者都渴望看到5%甚至更高的收入增幅，而在发达国家市场，这样的增幅越来越难以通过有机增长实现。
There are pressures on companies to do deals in almost every sector, from pharmaceuticals, where research and development spending has not produced the desired pipelines of blockbusters, to oil, where exploration opportunities are fewer and trickier to pursue. In both Europe and the US, investors are keen to see top-line growth of 5 per cent or more, and this is getting increasingly difficult to deliver organically in developed markets.
私人股本基金迫切希望将今年筹集的创纪录资金投资出去。通过拓宽高杠杆债务比例的使用范围，这些金融投资者还重新定义了可接受的上市公司债务水平。周期性的收益增长，进一步鼓励企业提高杠杆比例，而这样做的另外一个好处在于，高负债率可以打消私人股本集团的收购兴趣。这一切都意味着，企业也拥有更强大的资金实力，去寻求它们自己的收购机会。然而，值得牢记的是，追逐杠杆比例本身也具有周期性。
Private equity funds are keen to invest the record amounts of money raised this year. By pushing the boundaries in their use of high levels of leverage, these financial sponsors have also redefined what is an acceptable level of debt for listed companies. Cyclically buoyant earnings are further encouraging companies to gear up – with the added benefit that high leverage can discourage private equity bidders. All this means that companies also have greater financial firepower to pursue their own acquisitions. However, it is worth remembering that the pursuit of leverage, too, is cyclical.
Lex专栏是由FT评论家联合撰写的短评，对全球经济与商业进行精辟分析。
译者/朱冠华 |
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发表于 2006-12-25 23:51:44