李嘉誠收購澳大利亞比較大燃氣公司受阻
悉尼——李嘉誠也許是亞洲最有影響力的商人之一，但這個名聲——加上外界對中國影響力的畏懼——正阻礙他的公司在澳大利亞買下一家重要燃氣企業(yè)的壯志。
The Australian government, seeking to balance national security interests and economic growth, said on Wednesday that it was likely to block CK Group, a company led by Mr. Li, a Hong Kong billionaire, from acquiring APA Group, the country’s largest gas and pipeline company. A final decision is expected in two weeks, according to a Treasury statement.
澳大利亞政府正在國家安全利益與經濟增長之間權衡，該政府周三稱可能會阻止香港億萬富豪李嘉誠旗下的長江集團(CK Group)收購該國最大的燃氣及管道公司APA集團。據(jù)澳大利亞財政部的一份聲明，最終決定預計在兩周內做出。
In February, Australia’s Treasury announced it was tightening rules on investments in electricity and agriculture because of questions about China’s influence on such deals. As much as $90 billion in Chinese investment has flowed to Australia since 2007.
今年2月，澳大利亞財政部宣布收緊對電力和農業(yè)的投資政策，原因就是對這類投資里的中國影響力存有疑問。自2007年起，已有相當于900億美元的中國投資流入澳大利亞。
Australia’s treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said his “preliminary view” of CK Group’s bid of 12.98 billion Australian dollars ($9.6 billion) was to turn it down because it “would be contrary to the national interest.”
澳大利亞財長喬什·富來頓伯格(Josh Frydenberg)稱，他對長江集團129.8億澳元(96億美元)競購提案的“初步觀點”是否決，因為這起收購“有悖國家利益。”
“I have formed this view on the grounds that it would result in an undue concentration of foreign ownership by a single company group in our most significant gas transmission business,” Mr. Frydenberg said in a statement.
“我得出這一觀點的基礎是，這將使我國最重要的燃氣輸送業(yè)務的國外所有權過度集中在一家公司手中。”富來頓伯格在一份聲明中稱。
CK Group said in a separate statement that “the preliminary view is not an adverse reflection on the CK Group, and that the Australian Government welcomes CK Group’s investments in Australia and its broader contribution to the Australian economy.”
長江集團在另一份聲明中稱“這一初步觀點并非對長江集團有不好的看法，澳大利亞政府歡迎長江集團在澳大利亞的投資及其對澳大利亞經濟更廣泛的貢獻。”
Mr. Li’s companies already have substantial interests in Australia, but their attempts at acquiring utilities have had mixed results. The Australian government cleared the group’s takeover of gas and electricity distributor Duet Group in 2017; a year earlier it had blocked a joint bid for a state electricity distributor.
李嘉誠的多家公司已在澳大利亞擁有大量股權，但他們收購公用事業(yè)的嘗試結果喜憂參半。2017年澳大利亞政府批準了長江集團收購燃氣及電力分銷商杜埃特集團(Duet Group);再早一年則駁回了它對某國有配電商的一次并購提案。
This year, as the bid for the gas pipeline was under review and scrutiny over foreign acquisitions increased, CK Group attempted to allay concerns about the Chinese government’s influence.
今年，當燃氣管線的并購提案正在接受復審，而澳大利亞對國外投資的審查收緊時，長江集團曾試圖打消對方對中國政府影響力的擔憂。
Andy Hunter, CK’s deputy chief executive, called the criticism and the concern about foreign investment as misinformed and disappointing. “We are a properly governed, publicly-listed company and for anyone to suggest otherwise is sadly misinformed. The idea that we are in some way influenced by the Chinese government,” Mr. Hunter told the Australian Financial Review in September, was “fictitious to say the least.”
長江集團副首席執(zhí)行官安迪·亨特(Andy Hunter)稱這種對外資的批評和擔憂受到了誤導，是令人失望的。“我們是一家正當經營、公開上市的公司，任何人都可以提出建議，卻不幸被人誤解。這些關于我們受到中國政府的某種影響的說法，”亨特在今年9月對《澳大利亞金融評論報》說，“至少是在胡編亂造。”
The bid was cleared by the Australian competition watchdog but needed approval from by the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Treasurer.
并購提案已獲澳大利亞的競爭監(jiān)管部門通過，但還要得到外國投資審查委員會和財政部長的批準。
The review board was unable to reach a unanimous recommendation, according to Mr. Frydenberg’s statement. While the competition watchdog approved the bid, it hadn’t considered “the concentration of foreign ownership.”
根據(jù)富來頓伯格的聲明，審查委員會未能達成一致的建議。盡管競爭監(jiān)管部門批準了并購，它未曾慮及“國外所有權的集中。”
Mr. Frydenberg said that APA Group’s size, which accounts for 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles) of pipelines, representing 56 percent of Australia’s gas pipeline transmission system, was among his biggest concerns regarding the bid. The operation also includes three-quarters of all pipeline along the country’s eastern coast.
富來頓伯格表示，APA集團擁有15000公里(9320英里)的管線，占澳大利亞燃氣管道輸送系統(tǒng)的56%，如此的規(guī)模是他對這一收購最大的擔憂之一。該企業(yè)還占到該國東海岸全部燃氣管線的四分之三。
The news comes as the Australian government embarks on a campaign to revitalize relations with Beijing that have been strained since June when the government of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull passed national security legislation that bans foreign interference in politics.
消息傳出時，正值澳大利亞政府開始推動恢復與北京的關系。自從今年6月前總理特恩布爾的政府通過國家安全法案，禁止外國干涉內政以來，兩國關系一直緊張。
Government officials said at the time that the law was not aimed at any single country but the decision came months after newly released Australian electoral returns showed businesses with links to China had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to political parties in 2016.
政府官員當時稱這一法律并不是針對哪一個國家，但當時新發(fā)布的澳大利亞選舉報告顯示，與中國有關的企業(yè)在2016年給一些政黨捐了數(shù)十萬美元，幾個月后就出臺了修改國家安全法的決定。
In August, the Australian government blocked Chinese technology giant Huawei and another Chinese company, ZTE, from providing equipment to support the country’s new telecommunications networks. Government ministers said at the time that companies that “are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government” posed unacceptable security risks.
今年8月，澳大利亞政府禁止了中國的科技巨頭華為和另一家公司中興向該國供應支持新一代通訊網絡的設備。政府部長當時稱“極有可能接受外國政府法外指示”的公司會構成不可接受的安全隱患。
