China Business and Intellectual Property Lawyers & Attorneys : King & Wood Law Firm : China Law Insight : IP, Arbitration, Litigation, Securities, Foreign Investment

I.  With regard to Chinese enterprises’ overseas M&A:

 

1. Considering the combined effect of RMB appreciation, excessive domestic liquidity, and the continuous rise of inflation causing concerns for the nation’s economy and the people’s livelihood, Chinese regulatory authorities continue to strictly limit or prohibit foreign companies’ M&A in the fields of high energy consumption,certain natural resource-oriented industries, and the real estate industry.
2. On the expectation of RMB appreciation, overseas capital has shown high enthusiasm for RMB assets. Among which, equity M&A dominated by privately offered funds have become the main force of foreign companies’ M&A activities in China.
3. The high valuation of China’s capital market in 2007 has recently led to an apparent decrease in M&A by foreign companies towards Chinese listed companies. At the end of 2007, the total number of Chinese listed companies reached 15,570, with a total market capitalization of RMB32,710 billion Yuan including almost all high-quality companies across all industries in China. This is a market not to be neglected for long by foreign companies’ M&A activities. It can be expected that, with the adjustment of the domestic capital market, M&A by foreign companies towards Chinese listed companies will increase in 2008 and 2009.
4. Following the increase of Chinese enterprises’ overseas M&A, protectionism begins to prevail in jurisdictions governing the overseas target companies which has also led Chinese public opinion to pay increasing attention to the problems of national interest that may arise from M&A by foreign companies towards Chinese enterprises. With domestic public opinion paying more attention to foreign companies’ M&A in China, such M&A activities, especially those towards companies in sensitive industries or leading companies in their respective industries, will encounter more resistance.
5. While foreign lobbying groups begin to play a role in foreign companies’ M&A in China, legislation regulating lobbying activities in their numerous forms by various interest groups is still virgin ground in China.

全球跨国并购及战略投资新浪潮  

2008年注定是不平凡的一年。2008年上半年开局就充满了变数，全球跨国并购市场各种力量此消彼长。作为深深根植于中国，全面服务于中国企业海外并购和外资在华并购的领先律师事务所，我们看到2007下半年和2008上半年的跨国并购表现出如下趋势：

作者：王俊峰   金杜律师事务所创始合伙人  管理委员会主席

       景岗       金杜律师事务所           融资组证券部 

    一、              中国企业海外并购方面，主要呈现如下特点：

1.      活跃程度显著上升，市场容量迅速扩大；市场参与主体和交易类型多元化，除了大型国有企业继续主导之外，民营企业和主权基金在并购中的地位也愈发重要,显示了中国企业海外并购，在发展中逐渐走向成熟。

2.      中国的快速工业化与城市化进程，刺激了对原油与天然气等化石能源的巨大需求，对铁矿石、有色金属、木材等原材料的需求有增无减。为了保障上游资源的长期供应，对于大型国有企业如中石油、中石化、中海油、宝钢等，跨境并购在今后相当长的时期内，将会是其战略重心之一。

3.      金融行业并购方面，正由传统的银行业迅速拓展到保险业、证券业和资产管理业。2007年亚洲地区金融行业并购达1059亿美元，前10大并购中有8起由中国企业进行。部分中国的保险公司在利用其自身IPO所取得的资金、及保费收入进行海外并购。金融企业相关的监管限制在不断放宽，比如容许跨业务的合并，也将令金融业并购大量增加。

4.      尽管总量增长很快，但受制于自身的管理能力，中国企业真正的国际化操作水平还有较大局限性；同时，缺乏海外并购融资的工具，也进一步局限了中国企业海外并购的空间。

 二、              外资在华并购方面，主要呈现如下特点：

1.      考虑到人民币升值、国内流动性过剩、关系国计民生的通货膨胀CPI指数持续攀升等因素的综合作用，导致中国监管机关继续严格限制或禁止高耗能、高排放、部分资源性领域、以及房地产行业的外资并购。

2.      在人民币升值的预期下，境外资本对人民币资产的热情高涨，以私募基金为主导的股权并购，已成为外资在华并购的主要力量。

3.      2007年中国国内资本市场的高估值，导致了近期外资并购中国上市公司的数量显著下降。截至2007年底，中国上市公司总数量达到15570家，总市值达人民币32.71万亿，几乎囊括了国内各产业的优质公司，是外资并购不可能忽视的市场。可以预见，伴随着国内资本市场的调整，2008～2009年，外资并购中国上市公司数量上将会回升。

4.      随着中国企业海外并购数量增加，目标企业所在地政府保护主义抬头，也导致了中国国内舆论对外资并购中可能存在的中国国家利益问题日益关注。外资在华并购，尤其是对于一些敏感行业、行业龙头企业的并购，会受到国内舆论的格外关注，并购阻力加大。

5.      国外利益游说集团在外资并购中的作用开始显现，而如何规制各利益集团形形色色的游说活动，国内在立法上还是空白。