喜達屋收購案再次考驗美國對華投資監管

When the Japanese began buying trophy properties like Rockefeller Center in the late 1980s, there was an intense reaction.

上世紀80年代末期，日本人開始收購像洛克斐勒中心(Rockefeller Center)這種頂級地產，這在當時引發了激烈反應。

David Letterman began his show one evening with the announcer saying, “From New York, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, it’s ‘Late Night with David Letterman.’ ” A New York Times Op-Ed was titled, “An Economic Pearl Harbor?”

有天晚上，大衛‧萊特曼(David Letterman) 的節目是由播音員這麼開場的：“這是來自三菱企業分公司‘紐約’的《大衛深夜脫口秀》。”《紐約時報》刊載的一篇觀點與評論的文章標題則是：“經濟領域的珍珠港事件？”

Even Donald J. Trump got in on the act: “Bidding on a building in New York is an act of futility, because the Japanese will pay more than it’s worth just to screw us,” he told Playboy in 1990. “They want to own Manhattan.”

就連唐納‧J‧特朗普 (Donald J. Trump)也加入其中。“競標紐約的大樓只會徒勞無功，因爲那些日本人會付出不成比例的價碼，就爲了讓我們吃鱉，”他在1990年的時候這麼告訴《花花公子》(Playboy)雜誌。“他們想要入主曼哈頓。”

A quarter-century later, it is China’s turn.

四分之一個世紀過後，輪到中國上場了。

On Monday, in a head-turning series of deals, a Chinese insurance company that just over a year ago purchased the Waldorf Astoria, bought $6.5 billion of properties from the Blackstone Group and made a $12.8 billion offer to buy Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.

週一時， 在一連串令人注目的交易中，一年多前剛買下華爾道夫-阿斯托里亞酒店(Waldorf Astoria)的一箇中國保險公司，自黑石集團(Blackstone Group)手中購入了價值65億美元(約合423億人民幣)的房地產，還開出128億美元的價碼來收購喜達屋酒店及度假村國際集團(Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide)。

The collection of brands — Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, St. Regis — is remarkable. Properties include the Essex House on Central Park South; the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego, where “Some Like it Hot” was filmed; the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel and a smattering of Four Seasons and Fairmont properties.

這間中國公司收集到的這些名牌地產很是了得，有喜來登酒店(Sheraton),、威士汀酒店(Westin)、W飯店(W Hotels)，還有聖瑞吉斯酒店(St. Regis)。地產則包括了中央公園南(Central Park South)上的埃賽克斯酒店(Essex House)；位於加州聖地牙哥附近的科羅納多酒店(Hotel del Coronado)，也就是電影《熱情如火》(Some Like it Hot)的拍攝地；加州尼古湖的麗思卡爾頓酒店(Ritz-Carlton)，還有零星幾座四季酒店(Four Seasons)和費爾蒙特酒店(Fairmont)的房產。

When the insurer, Anbang, purchased the Waldorf in 2015, there was concern that the historic hotel — where the United States ambassador to the United Nations resides — had fallen into the hands of a Chinese company. President Obama, who used to routinely stay at the Waldorf as United States presidents had done since 1947, switched hotels the next time he stayed overnight in Manhattan. The White House was said to be worried that the Chinese could have planted surveillance. (Mr. Obama stayed at the Millennium One UN New York and on a subsequent trip stayed at the Palace Hotel, which is owned by a South Korean company.)

當這家保險商——安邦——在2015年買下華爾道夫酒店的時候，有人對這個歷史悠久的美國駐聯合國大使下榻酒店落到中國企業手裏感到擔憂。和1947年以來的歷任總統一樣，華爾道夫也是奧巴馬總統的例行下榻之處。不過他在這間酒店易主後就改到曼哈頓其他酒店過夜了。據稱白宮是擔心中國人可能在華爾道夫裝設了監視系統。(奧巴馬住進了紐約千禧聯合國酒店[Millennium One UN New York]。後來的一次紐約行又改住韓國公司經營的皇宮大酒店[Palace Hotel]。)

Should there be concern over Anbang’s aggressive real estate push? And will the deals become part of the debate raging during the presidential campaign about foreigners taking American jobs and buying up assets here?

美國人該爲安邦大舉置業一事感到憂心嗎？這些房產交易又是否會在總統競選時，成爲外國人搶走美國工作、買光美國資產的激烈辯題之一呢？

So far, none of the candidates have made comments about the deal. But it wouldn’t be hard to see it become a talking point. In one of Mr. Trump’s position papers, he said: “America fully opened its markets to China, but China has not reciprocated,” describing its “Great Wall of Protectionism.”

到目前爲止，尚未有任何一位總統候選人對這場交易做出評論。但是我們也不難預見它會成爲話題。特朗普在一份意見書裏表示：“美國把自家市場對中國完全開放了，但中國並沒有投桃報李。”又稱這是中國的“保護主義長城”。

Chinese companies have been on a foreign acquisition spree in recent years, looking abroad for deals in an effort to diversify. In January, the Wanda Group from China agreed to buy Legendary Entertainment, the film company behind Jurassic World, for $3.5 billion. The largest Chinese acquisition to date of an American company was Smithfield Foods’ $5 billion sale to China’s Shuanghui International Holdings in 2013. Last month, China National Chemical Corporation bought Syngenta, a Swiss agricultural and chemical giant, for $43 billion, the largest foreign purchase ever by a Chinese firm.

近年來，中國企業狂熱地購置海外資產，爲了經營多樣化而尋求併購機會。一月時，中國的萬達集團同意用35億美元收購製作了《侏羅紀世界》(Jurassic World)的美國電影公司傳奇影業(Legendary Entertainment)。迄今規模最大的中國併購美國公司資產案則是在2013年，史密斯菲爾德食品公司(Smithfield Foods)以50億美元賣給了雙匯國際股份有限公司。而在上個月，中國化工集團公司花了430億美元收購瑞士農業與化工業巨擘先正達(Syngenta)，成爲中國公司有史以來最龐大的海外收購案。

The deals by Anbang, which has close ties to current and former Chinese government officials, will most likely be reviewed by Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, also known as Cfius, which reviews all deals for American companies that involve national security.

安邦集團與許多中國在任和前任政府官員有密切聯繫，它的收購案很可能受到美國外國投資委員會（Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States，簡稱Cfius）的審查。該委員會會審查所有涉及國家安全的對美資公司收購案。

Real estate holdings may not seem like a likely target of the interagency body, but it did review and approve the Waldorf sale. At the time of the Waldorf deal, Daniel B. Pickard, a lawyer at Wiley Rein, wrote in a note to clients that the transaction “is a reminder that seemingly innocuous property transactions in the United States can have national security implications.”

房地產控股看起來不太像這家跨部門機構的目標，但它的確曾審覈並批准了華爾道夫酒店的出售。衛理律師事務所(Wiley Rein)律師丹尼爾·皮卡德(Daniel B. Pickard)在給客戶的報告中稱該交易是一個提醒，“表明在美國，即使看似無害的地產交易，也可能會牽涉到國家安全”。

And how “national security” is defined is a moving target. Over the last year, at least 10 deals, mostly related to technology, were withdrawn over concerns that Cfius would block them.

“國家安全”的定義是捉摸不定的。去年，由於擔心被Cfius阻攔，至少十項收購案被撤回，其中大多數涉及科技領域。

Then there is the question of whether these deals will turn out to be a success or follow the losing path of Japan. Nearly all the trophy buildings that Japanese companies acquired at stratospheric premiums in the late 1980s were sold at a steep loss within the decade.

隨之而來的問題是，這些收購案最終是會獲得成功，還是會步日本的後塵。上個世紀80年代末日本公司以天價買下的那些知名樓盤，接下來十年基本上被大幅降價售出。

Anbang’s deal-making raises concerns. It is paying $6.5 billion to Blackstone for its hotel portfolio, yet Blackstone paid only $6 billion for them three months ago. Blackstone, arguably the world’s most skilled real estate investor, was all too happy to quickly flip it to them. And Anbang’s offer for Starwood, in which it was joined by two financial partners, looks like an opening gambit to thwart Starwood’s merger agreement with Marriott, so it is likely the final price will go even higher.

安邦集團的收購引發許多擔憂。安邦向黑石集團支付65億美元收購酒店業務，然而黑石集團在三個月前只爲此支付了60億美元。堪稱世界上最老練的地產投資商的黑石集團，十分樂意把它們迅速轉手賺錢。而安邦集團對喜達屋的出價（該項目還有另兩個投資方參與），看來只是阻擊喜達屋與萬豪併購的序幕，因此最終的收購價可能會更高。

Then there is the question of how Anbang, which didn’t even exist 15 years ago, is paying for all of these deals. Well, it has entered the risky business of becoming a “shadow bank” in China by offering investment products that promise large interest payments. Already, some analysts are expressing nervousness that Anbang could be unable to pay back its investors because it has plowed so much money into real estate. But as China’s economy cools, companies like Anbang are desperately trying to find places to invest cash outside of the country.

隨之而來的問題是，僅僅成立15年的安邦集團，如何擔負如此鉅額的收購資金。通過提供承諾會有巨大收益的投資產品，安邦集團已經涉足中國頗具風險的“影子銀行”業務。已有分析師擔心安邦集團可能無法償付投資者，因爲大量的資金已被投入房地產業。但隨着中國經濟降溫，像安邦集團一樣的中國企業正極力尋求機會，將現金投資海外。

Wall Street bankers and lawyers expect Chinese companies to continue to acquire assets in the United States. Anbang’s deals are only the beginning. If the pace picks up, watch for this to become an issue as the presidential campaign heads into the general election.

華爾街的銀行家和律師希望中國公司繼續收購美國的地產。安邦的收購僅僅是一個開始。如果收購節奏加快，估計在進入大選階段的總統競選中將成爲一個話題。

In 1989, Sony’s chief, Akio Morita, was asked about all the consternation over his acquisition of assets in Hollywood. His reply?

1989年，索尼(Sony)在好萊塢的資產收購引發了人們的驚恐，有人就此問索尼總裁盛田昭夫(Akio Morita)，他的回答是：

“If you don’t want Japan to buy it, don’t sell it.”

“如果你不想要日本買，那就不要賣。”