海航集團全球擴張引發槓桿質疑(上)

HNA Group’s $6.5bn bid for a 25 per cent stake in the Hilton hotel chain has cemented its reputation as one of China’s most acquisitive groups.

海航集團(HNA Group)斥資65億美元收購希爾頓(Hilton)連鎖酒店25%的股份，此舉鞏固了它作爲中國最熱衷收購的集團之一的聲譽。

In less than two years the privately controlled company has announced foreign and domestic transactions worth more than $33bn — half spent offshore, according to data provider Dealogic — as it builds a global empire with interests spanning aviation, logistics and tourism.

數據提供商Dealogic的數據顯示，在不到2年時間裏，這家民營控股企業宣佈的海外和國內收購交易總值超過330億美元——其中一半是海外收購——它正在建立一個全球帝國，資產橫跨航空、物流和旅遊業。

Begun in 1989 as a private airline on the tropical island of Hainan, HNA’s buying spree shows no sign of slowing.

1989年從熱帶島嶼海南島的一家非上市航空公司起家，海航集團的收購狂歡並未表現出絲毫的放緩跡象。

Founder Chen Feng, a former employee of China’s state civil aviation administration, has transformed Hainan Airlines, the group’s flagship company, from a two-jet operation into the country’s fourth-largest airline and has built a sprawling conglomerate.

創始人陳峯曾在中國民航系統任職，他將海航集團的旗艦企業海南航空(Hainan Airlines)從一家只運營兩架飛機的公司轉變成爲中國第四大航空公司，並建立了產業範圍廣泛的綜合集團。

While Mr Chen has largely ceded control of the group’s day-to-day operations to his co-chairman, Wang Jian, and chief executive Adam Tan , the Hilton acquisition, revealed on Monday, is a key piece of his plan to profit from Chinese tourists as they travel around the world.

儘管陳峯目前基本把海航集團日常運營的控制權交給了集團董事局董事長王健和首席執行官譚向東，但是週一公佈的希爾頓收購案是陳峯從中國遊客赴海外旅遊的熱潮中獲益計劃的關鍵部分。

The vision is to be a vertically integrated aviation and tourist group, says a person close to HNA.

願景是打造縱向一體化的航空和旅遊集團，一名熟悉海航集團的知情人士表示，

They are buying different pieces and putting it together like a jigsaw puzzle.

他們正在購買不同的板塊，並拼成一張拼圖。

However, the dizzying rate of HNA’s recent acquisitions, the diversity of its targets and indebtedness of many of its units has raised questions about the pace and coherence of its expansion.

然而，海航最近令人眼花繚亂的收購頻率、收購目標的多樣性以及旗下很多公司的負債規模，引發了有關其擴張步伐和協調性的問題。

From its humble origins, HNA Group has grown to a company with Rmb190bn ($28bn) in annual revenues, Rmb600bn of assets and 180,000 employees.

出身平平的海航集團，如今已經成長爲一家年收入1900億元人民幣（合280億美元）、資產達6000億元人民幣、擁有員工18萬人的公司。

The group comprises 12 listed entities and dozens of smaller businesses ranging across tourism, property and logistics.

該集團包含12家上市公司和數十家較小企業，遍佈旅遊、房地產和物流行業。

At the end of last year, it had 30 overseas operational entities in 16 countries and territories and had joined the Fortune Global 500 as the world’s 464th-largest company.

截至去年年底，該集團在16個國家和地區共擁有30家海外經營實體，躋身《財富》世界500強(Fortune Global 500)企業之列，位列第464位。

This year, after a spate of dealmaking, it was ranked 353rd.

今年，在完成了一連串的交易後，海航排在第353位。

Even if there is appetite to continue expanding, there needs to be integration and group synergies, says Will Horton, an aviation analyst at CAPA Centre for Aviation.

儘管海航有繼續擴張的胃口，但是它需要進行整合以及集團內部協同，CAPA航空中心(CAPA Centre for Aviation)的航空業分析師威爾.霍頓(Will Horton)稱。

The group appeared too sprawling and unfocused even before the dizzying pace of deals over the past year.

即便是在過去一年令人目不暇接的收購舉動前，該集團的範圍似乎就已經太過龐大和分散。

Sceptical analysts point to HNA’s $6bn purchase in February of Ingram Micro, a software company, and RocketSpace, a US start-up incubator in San Francisco, as evidence of its sometimes haphazard expansion.

持懷疑態度的分析師指出，海航集團於2月斥資60億美元收購軟件公司英邁(Ingram Micro)，後又收購位於舊金山的美國初創企業孵化器RocketSpace，便是它有時隨意擴張的證據。

HNA’s defenders reply that the group’s international expansion is a rational response to the limits it faces at home,

該集團的維護者回應稱，它進行國際擴張是對在國內受到限制的理性迴應。

where the domestic aviation industry has long been dominated by the big three state airlines, Air China, China Eastern and China Southern.

中國國內的航空行業長久以來一直被中國國航(Air China)、東航(China Eastern)和南航(China Southern)三大國有航空公司主導。

If there were no constraints in terms of government protectionism they would have taken over, says the person close to HNA.

如果國內不存在政府保護主義方面的限制，他們早就奪取市場了，那位知情人士稱。

Most of the state airlines would have been wiped out.

多數國有航空公司會被淘汰。

There were limits to their growth in aviation at home so they diversified internationally into other things over time.

他們在國內航空業的發展受到限制，因此他們逐漸進行國際多元化發展，進入其他領域。

One person involved in the Hilton transaction argues that the group’s most recent deal is a good example of its broader strategy.

一位參與此次希爾頓收購交易的人認爲，該集團最近這筆交易很好地展現了它的整體戰略。

There is an industrial logic here, he says.

這其中存在一種產業邏輯，他稱，

HNA has the fourth-largest airline in China and the second-largest online travel agency.

海航集團擁有中國第四大航空公司和第二大在線旅遊代理商。

China is by far the fastest-growing hotel market in the world and it’s got by far the fastest-growing piece of outbound travel.

中國是全世界發展最快的酒店市場，以及發展最快的出境遊市場。

HNA has also developed a profitable aviation leasing business and now owns the largest for-hire jet fleet in China.

海航集團還開發了賺錢的航空租賃業務，如今擁有中國最大的租賃機隊。

In that sector, it paid $2.5bn last year for Ireland-based Avolon Holdings and topped that earlier this month with a $10bn bid for US-based CIT Group.

在該領域，它去年以25億美元收購了位於愛爾蘭的Avolon Holdings，後者又在本月早些時候出價100億美元收購美國CIT Group。

The CIT deal will make HNA the world’s third-largest aircraft lessor.

收購CIT將使海航集團成爲全世界第三大飛機租賃商。