欧洲卡车制造业
关键词： 欧洲，卡车，制造业 European trucks欧洲卡车制造业
Roadblocks
路障
Sep 21st 2006 | PARIS
From The Economist print edition
Will MAN take over Scania?
曼能否收购斯堪尼亚?
“WE WANTED the main shareholders' support for our bid,” says Hakan Samuelsson, the Swedish boss of MAN, a German truckmaker. He says his company has been talking to the biggest shareholders of Scania, itsSwedish rival, for a couple of months about a friendly takeover of the company that employed him for 23 years before he joined MAN six years ago. But a leak to a press agency obliged him, he says, to choose between abandoning his plan and going ahead without the backing ofScania's main owners.
“我们原本希望争取主要股东对收购方案的支持，” 德国卡车制造商曼(MAN)的瑞典籍老板哈坎·萨缪尔森(Hakan Samuelsson)说。他表示公司跟收购对象——瑞典竞争对手斯堪尼亚(Scania)的几位最大股东已就善意收购一事磋商数月之久。萨缪尔森曾是该公司员工，在该公司工作了23年之后，于6年前跳槽到MAN。然而媒介走漏了风声迫使他作出抉择，萨缪尔森说:要么放弃计划，要么在没有斯堪尼亚主要股东支持的情况下继续推行收购方案。
Mr Samuelsson's hostile move caused consternation at Scania. Over the weekend its nine-member board unanimously rejected his takeover proposal. Three members are representatives of Volkswagen (VW), a German carmaker and Scania's biggest shareholder with 18.7% of the capital and 34% of the votes. Two speak for Investor, a Swedish investment company controlled by the Wallenberg family, which controls 29% of the votes. On September 18th, when Mr Samuelsson launched a euro9.6 billion ($12.2 billion) cash-and shares bid anyway, VW and Investor issued statements within hours to turn down MAN's offer.
萨缪尔森的敌意举动在斯堪尼亚的内部引起了恐慌。上周末，该公司的9人董事会一致同意拒绝他的收购方案。董事会成员中有三人是德国大众公司（斯堪尼亚的最大股东，占公司18.7%的股份和34%的投票权）的代表，有两人为银瑞达（瓦伦博格家族控股并拥有29%投票权的一家瑞典投资公司）说话。9月18日，尽管萨缪尔森抛出了96亿欧元（122亿美元）现金加股票的收购价，但大众和银瑞达仍在数小时内发表声明，拒绝了这一竞价。
MAN and Scania are a good match. Scania's strong brand, juicy margins and engine know-how make it one of the most attractive companies in the industry. The two firms have talked about co-operating in the development of gearboxes and axles, though the discussion ended acrimoniously. Scania's focus on heavy trucks would complement MAN's on lighter vehicles. Mr Samuelsson and several other former Scania managers who recently defected to MAN know Scania well. The combination would create the market leader in Europe, a strong firm in emerging markets and the global number three by sales.
曼和斯堪尼亚其实很登对。斯堪尼亚强大的品牌，丰厚的利润以及先进的引擎技术使它成为业界最炙手可热的公司之一。两家公司曾就合作发展变速器和承轴的问题进行磋商，尽管最终落得个不欢而散。斯堪尼亚对重型卡车领域的专注，对于偏重于轻型卡车领域的曼来说，将是一大有利补充。萨缪尔森和其他几位同样跳槽到曼的前斯堪尼亚主管对斯堪尼亚知根知底，两家公司若合并，将一举成为欧洲市场领头羊，新兴市场巨擎以及全球销量第三的企业。
Analysts have been predicting consolidation in the European market since the start of the year. Bigger is better: DaimlerChrysler Truck Group, the market leader by a large margin, and Volvo Trucks, the number two, are reaping the benefits of economies of scale in research and development (R&D), sourcing of components, marketing and distribution. This puts both in a strong position to weather a coming storm.The truck business is booming in most countries, but new carbon-emission standards in the North American Free Trade Area and stronger competition from Asian and Eastern European producers are likely to hit sales next year.
自今年年初起，分析人士就预测欧洲市场将掀起一波并购浪潮。生意场上，越大即越好：业内利润最高的戴姆勒-克莱斯卡车集团和沃尔沃卡车公司正在从研发，零配件采购，市场营销等方面大笔收获着规模经济所带来的好处。这使得他们在迫在眉睫的市场风暴中占据了非常有利的位置。目前，卡车制造业在世界上多数国家都是蒸蒸日上，但是北美自由贸易区（NAFTA）新碳排放标准的制定以及来自从亚洲到东欧制造商的日趋激烈的竞争将可能影响明年的全球销量。
Mr Samuelsson is undeterred by the big shareholders' rejection. He is betting on winning over Investor with a better price and VW with a bigger stake in the merged company. Investor is unlikely to be keen on becoming a minority shareholder without multiple-voting rights in a Societas Europaea (SE), the European Union's newish form of company that Mr Samuelsson wants the merged firm to assume. Dual- class shares are common in Swedish companies, but do not exist in SEs. VW, meanwhile, could be
tempted by an offer to incorporate its undersized truck business in Brazil, which would increase its stake in the new company.
萨缪尔森并没有被斯堪尼亚大股东们的拒绝吓退脚步。他把宝押在给银瑞达更好的价格，给大众更多新公司的股份上。银瑞达不大可能会愿意变成一家欧洲公司(简称SE，欧盟新型公司模式，萨缪尔森希望合并后的公司采用该模式)中没有多重投票权的小股东。双重投票权股份（Dual-class shares）在瑞典企业中十分常见，但在欧洲仍不成立。与此同时，大众可能会对把它在巴西较小规模的卡车业务捆绑并入新公司的方案感兴趣，原因是这将增加它在新公司的股份。
Much depends on how he sweetens his offer, but Mr Samuelsson's strategy may well succeed unless an attractive rival bid emerges. Analysts at JPMorgan, an American investment bank, say that PACCAR, an American truckmaker, could afford a counterbid for Scania and might reap greater synergies than MAN. MAN says it will be saving some euro500m a year, mainly in component sourcing, administration and R&D within the next three years. Even so, say JPMorgan's analysts, PACCAR will probably shy away from a bidding war.
该收购成败与否，在很大程度上取决于萨缪尔森如何增加该计划的诱惑力，但除非出现更有诱惑力的竟购，萨缪尔森的策略很可能最终成功。美国投资银行ＪＰ摩根的分析家指出，一家名叫PACCAR的美国卡车制造商可能会出得起一笔收购斯堪尼亚的竞价，并且可能比曼获得更多合并的好处。据曼预计合并将为公司每年节省约5亿欧元的开支，这些开支主要来自零配件采购，今后三年内则还会来自管理和研发方面。尽管如此，JP摩根的分析人士认为，PACCAR可能会避免参与一场竞购战。
Could Scania turn the tables and bid for MAN? The “Pac-Man” defence remains an option for Leif Ostling, Scania's boss for 17 years. Yet Mr Ostling is opposed not only to this merger but to any. He thinks Scania is better off on its own. Its smaller size, European focus and emphasis on heavy trucks have made it the most profitable company in its peer group with average margins of 9.4% over the past 15 years. In 1999Mr Ostling fought hard against a hostile bid by Volvo, a Swedish carmaker, and won when the deal was blocked by the EU's antitrust watchdog. Three years ago he rejected a previous advance by MAN. This could be the trickiest—and possibly the last—battle of his time at Scania.
那么，斯堪尼亚会不会扭转局面，反过来收购曼呢？当了17年斯堪尼亚公司老板的利夫·奥斯特林（Leif Ostling）仍有动用反噬防御[注1]的余地。但是奥斯特林反对的不仅仅是这次合并，而是一切合并。他认为斯堪尼亚独立经营会更成功。它的小规模生产，对欧洲市场的专注和重型卡车生产的倚重已经使它在过去15年中的平均利润率达到9.4%，成为同行中利润最高的公司。早在1999年，奥斯特林就为反对沃尔沃的敌意收购而大动干戈，并凭借欧盟反垄断委员会的干预赢得了胜利。3年前，他拒绝了曼的上一次收购提议。这可能是他在斯堪尼亚最复杂也可能是最后的一次保卫战。
[注1] 反噬防御（Pac-man defense） 是根据美国一个流行的电视剧命名的，剧中的人物在吃自己之前都会尽力吃了其他人。在反收购中，是指目标公司以收购袭击者的方式来回应其对自己的收购企图。
翻译：xwei 审校：shelleytan
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