清華紫光終止38億美元美國投資計劃

A Chinese state-controlled technology group has terminated a $3.8bn plan to become the largest shareholder in data storage group Western Digital, after the investment was flagged for an investigation by US authorities.

中國政府控股的一家高科技集團終止了成爲美國數據存儲集團——西部數據(Western Digital)最大股東的38億美元投資計劃。此前美國當局指明要調查這筆投資。

Yesterday a unit of Tsinghua Unigroup, China’s most ambitious overseas acquirer in the chipmaking sector, said it would abandon a deal agreed last September that would have seen it acquire a stake of about 15 per cent.

清華紫光(Tsinghua Unigroup)是中國在芯片製造領域境外收購最雄心勃勃的集團。昨天，該集團的一個部門表示，將放棄去年9月達成的一宗交易，按照協議該集團原本會收購約15%的股份。

Shares in Western Digital had slumped more than 6 per cent by late yesterday morning, to $42.93. The California-based company said the deal with Tsinghua had fallen apart after a decision by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (Cfius) to investigate the transaction.

昨天接近中午時分，西部數據股價下滑逾6%，至每股42.93美元。這家總部位於加利福尼亞州的企業表示，在美國外國投資委員會(CFIUS)決定調查該交易之後，與清華紫光達成的交易已破裂。

The move comes at a time when Chinese companies are striking large overseas deals at the fastest pace in history, even as concerns remain about their ability to close the transactions.

這種局面出現之際，中國企業正以史上最快節奏在境外發起大規模收購——儘管有關它們能否完成交易的擔憂揮之不去。

Shares in Western Digital have fallen sharply in the past year. This has affected both the value of its $19bn cash and stock acquisition of SanDisk, a flash-memory disk maker, as well as the premium of the investment from Unisplendour, the Tsinghua subsidiary.

過去一年裏西部數據的股價急劇下滑。這不僅影響了該集團以現金和股票形式對閃存盤製造商晟碟(SanDisk)的190億美元收購的價值，也影響了清華紫光子公司紫光控股(Unisplendour)對其投資的溢價。

The deal would have seen Tsinghua given the right to nominate one person to the board of Western Digital. Neither company would incur a termination fee, Western Digital said.

按照協議，清華紫光原本能通過該交易獲得在西部數據董事會提名一位董事的權利。西部數據表示，雙方均無需支付解約金。

One Washington-based lawyer said it was odd for Tsinghua to walk away from the deal as the government had only said it would investigate the investment, not that it would block the deal.

一位駐華盛頓的律師表示，由於美國政府只是表示會調查（而不是封殺）這一交易，清華紫光退出該交易有點奇怪。

“All that happened here was that Cfius said it was a covered transaction and that they would look into it,” he said. “The Chinese were getting a board seat and a joint venture was being formed, so of course they would review it.”

他說：“CFIUS只是表示該交易屬於其調查範圍，他們會對其開展調查，這就是事情的全部。中國人將獲得一個董事會席位，雙方將成立一家合資企業。出於這個原因，他們當然會審查這一交易。”

The collapse marks the second time this year such a transaction has collapsed due to scrutiny by Cfius, the US body which reviews foreign investments for national security concerns.

這一交易的破裂是今年第二宗因CFIUS審查而破裂的交易。CFIUS是從國家安全角度對外來投資開展審查的美國機構。