China Comes to the Rescue for Corporate America
面对金融风暴，向中国求援的不仅仅是美国政府。在困境中挣扎的美国公司也转向了中国，这其中既有觊觎拥有13亿潜在客户的庞大国内市场的因素，也有像周三的两条新闻所揭示的那样，为了得到一笔现金。在通用汽车(GM)申请破产保护仅一天后，一家中国非上市建筑设备制造商突然冒出来收购了通用汽车旗下的悍马(Hummer)子公司，价格估计不到5亿美元。如果这项交易能够完成，四川腾中重工机械有限公司(Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., 简称：腾中重工)将成为首家真正进入美国汽车制造业的中国企业。悍马算不上是通用汽车炙手可热的资产。近一年来，通用汽车一直希望卖掉悍马，不过在当今的市场环境下，对这个高耗油的豪华汽车品牌感兴趣的企业寥寥无几。乍看起来，这项收购让人有些迷惑。尽管腾中重工拥有生产自卸车和沥青喷涂机等特种车辆的经验，但它从未生产过面向消费市场的汽车。（ 腾中重工不会生产军用车Humvee，悍马的灵感来自Humvee，但这款车是由AM General Corp.拥有和生产的。）这家公司还将面对悍马销售下滑和中美两国都提高燃油经济性标准的挑战。也许这是对老牌美国品牌存续能力的考验。腾中重工总经理杨毅在声明中说，悍马品牌展示的是一种勇于探索自由和奔放的精神，我们将通过投资让这种精神延续下去。与此同时，中投公司(China Investment Corp.)也对另一家美国知名品牌表现出了信心。这家中国主权财富基金的投资部门将成为摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)发售22亿美元普通股的主要买家，以12亿美元购买总计8,020万股新股中的4,470万股。这将使中投公司持有的摩根士丹利股份比例重新上升到9.9%左右，与2007年首次以56亿美元持股摩根士丹利时的股份比例一致。（在去年秋季摩根士丹利向三菱UFJ金融集团(Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.)出售股票后，中投公司的股份受到了稀释。）此次股票发行筹集的资金将用于偿还美国政府的问题资产收购计划(TARP)资金。中投公司在其网站的声明中说，对摩根士丹利的未来发展持乐观态度。中投公司称，当前国际投资银行业已经历重大重组，我们认为摩根士丹利的金融生态环境将有所改善，会更有竞争力。目前，美国企业在品牌和历史表现方面具有优势。但它们也将越来越多地面临着外部融资资源有限的中国国内企业的竞争，如奇瑞汽车(Chery Automobile)就向国内一家私募基金筹集了大约人民币20亿元（2.93亿美元）的资金，以在销售增长放缓和国内暂停新股发行的情况下筹集研发资金。Sky Canaves（“中国日志”（China Journal）关注全球第一人口大国的发展变化，《华尔街日报》获奖团队数十位记者倾情献稿，Sky Canaves主笔。欢迎读者发送邮件至[email protected]或在下面评论栏中发表评论和建议。）相关阅读四川腾中重工将收购通用汽车的悍马子公司 2009-06-03中投将追加购买摩根士丹利股票 2009-06-03更新：奇瑞汽车出售20%股权 2009-06-03盖特纳：中国对美国有信心 2009-06-03盖特纳：美国经济在复苏，中国请放心 2009-06-01
It's not just the U.S. government that's been turning to China for a helping hand to weather the financial storm.Troubled American companies also look to China, whether for its vast domestic market of 1.3 billion potential customers, or, as in two cases in the news today, for some ready cash.Just a day after GM filed for bankruptcy protection, a privately held Chinese construction equipment maker appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to take GM's Hummer unit off its hands, at a price estimated to be under $500 million. If the deal goes through, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. will be the first Chinese company to establish a serious presence in the U.S. auto manufacturing industry. Hummer hasn't exactly been a hot property for GM It's been up for sale for nearly a year, with few takers for the gas-guzzling luxury vehicle brand in today's market.On the surface, the purchase looks somewhat puzzling. While Sichuan Tengzhong has experience in making special-use vehicles such as dump trucks and asphalt spreaders, it has never made autos for the consumer market. (Sichuan Tengzhong will not be making the military Humvee, the inspiration for the Hummer, since that model is owned and manufactured by AM General Corp.). The company will also have to grapple with declining Hummer sales and tighter fuel efficiency standards, both in the U.S. and in China. Perhaps it is a testament to the continuing power of well established American brands.'The Hummer brand is synonymous with adventure, freedom and exhilaration, and we plan to continue that heritage by investing in the business,' said Yang Yi, Sichuan Tengzhong's CEO, in a statement. Meanwhile, China Investment Corp., is also showing confidence in another established American brand. The investment arm of China's sovereign wealth fund will be the main buyer of Morgan Stanley's $2.2 billion common stock offering, buying 44.7 million shares (of a total 80.2 million shares) for $1.2 billion. That will bring CIC's stake in the Wall Street bank back up to about 9.9%, the same as its original stake in Morgan Stanley, which was purchased in 2007 for $5.6 billion. (CIC's stake was diluted after Morgan Stanley sold shares to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group last fall.)The funds raised from the sale will be used to repay the U.S. government's TARP funds. In a statement on its Web site, CIC said it is optimistic about Morgan Stanley's prospects. 'MS is widely expected to be able to leverage on its strengthened financial position and will be on the road of resuming its successful trajectory amid the dramatic restructuring of the international financial services industry,' it said.For now, U.S. companies have the advantages of their brands and track records. But increasingly, they will also be competing with domestic companies that have limited recourse to outside funding, such as Chery Automobile's turn to local private equity investors to raise about two billion yuan ($293 million) to fund its development in the face of a slowdown in sales growth and the suspension of domestic IPOs. Sky Canaves
It's not just the U.S. government that's been turning to China for a helping hand to weather the financial storm.Troubled American companies also look to China, whether for its vast domestic market of 1.3 billion potential customers, or, as in two cases in the news today, for some ready cash.Just a day after GM filed for bankruptcy protection, a privately held Chinese construction equipment maker appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to take GM's Hummer unit off its hands, at a price estimated to be under $500 million. If the deal goes through, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. will be the first Chinese company to establish a serious presence in the U.S. auto manufacturing industry. Hummer hasn't exactly been a hot property for GM It's been up for sale for nearly a year, with few takers for the gas-guzzling luxury vehicle brand in today's market.On the surface, the purchase looks somewhat puzzling. While Sichuan Tengzhong has experience in making special-use vehicles such as dump trucks and asphalt spreaders, it has never made autos for the consumer market. (Sichuan Tengzhong will not be making the military Humvee, the inspiration for the Hummer, since that model is owned and manufactured by AM General Corp.). The company will also have to grapple with declining Hummer sales and tighter fuel efficiency standards, both in the U.S. and in China. Perhaps it is a testament to the continuing power of well established American brands.'The Hummer brand is synonymous with adventure, freedom and exhilaration, and we plan to continue that heritage by investing in the business,' said Yang Yi, Sichuan Tengzhong's CEO, in a statement. Meanwhile, China Investment Corp., is also showing confidence in another established American brand. The investment arm of China's sovereign wealth fund will be the main buyer of Morgan Stanley's $2.2 billion common stock offering, buying 44.7 million shares (of a total 80.2 million shares) for $1.2 billion. That will bring CIC's stake in the Wall Street bank back up to about 9.9%, the same as its original stake in Morgan Stanley, which was purchased in 2007 for $5.6 billion. (CIC's stake was diluted after Morgan Stanley sold shares to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group last fall.)The funds raised from the sale will be used to repay the U.S. government's TARP funds. In a statement on its Web site, CIC said it is optimistic about Morgan Stanley's prospects. 'MS is widely expected to be able to leverage on its strengthened financial position and will be on the road of resuming its successful trajectory amid the dramatic restructuring of the international financial services industry,' it said.For now, U.S. companies have the advantages of their brands and track records. But increasingly, they will also be competing with domestic companies that have limited recourse to outside funding, such as Chery Automobile's turn to local private equity investors to raise about two billion yuan ($293 million) to fund its development in the face of a slowdown in sales growth and the suspension of domestic IPOs. Sky Canaves