復星放棄對以色列保險公司的收購

Fosun International has abandoned the purchase of an Israeli insurance company, in the first apparent sign that the recent detention of the Chinese conglomerate’s chairman has had an impact on its investment strategy.

復星國際(Fosun International)放棄了對一家以色列保險公司的收購，這似乎是表明這家中國綜合性企業的董事長最近遭拘禁一事對其投資戰略產生影響的首個跡象。

Fosun, one of China’s best known companies globally, said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday that it was terminating the deal announced last June for it to buy a controlling stake in Phoenix Holdings, an insurance and financial group, from Israel’s Delek Group for 1.8bn shekels ($462m).

復星是中國在全球名聲最響的企業之一。週三，該集團在發給香港交易所(HKEx)的一份聲明中稱，它正在終止去年6月宣佈的一宗併購交易。這宗交易的內容是，復星斥資18億謝克爾（合4.62億美元），從以色列德雷克集團(Delek Group)手中買下保險與金融集團Phoenix Holdings的控股權。

Fosun issued a separate statement linking the cancellation to global market turmoil. People close to the company said that by scrapping the debt financing that would have been required for the deal, Fosun’s leverage would be reduced, at a time when it is keen to improve its investment rating.

復星還發布了一份聲明，把這宗交易的取消與全球市場的動盪聯繫在一起。與該集團關係密切的人士稱，在復星急於改善其投資評級之際，通過放棄完成該交易原本所需的債務融資，復星的槓桿會有所下降。

However, as recently as last month, chairman Guo Guangchang made a visit to Israel in connection with the deal, according to an earlier Fosun statement.

不過，復星更早些時候發佈的一份聲明顯示，就在上個月時，該集團董事長郭廣昌還爲這宗交易訪問了以色列。

Mr Guo disappeared from public view for four days in December in connection with a Chinese government corruption probe into Ai Baojun, a former deputy mayor of Shanghai, according to people close to Fosun. Mr Guo was not a target of the probe but was helping authorities with their investigation into the politician, the people said.

與復星關係密切的人士稱，去年12月，郭廣昌因被中國政府對原上海市副市長艾寶俊的反腐調查牽扯進去，而從公衆視線中消失了4天。這名知情人士表示，郭廣昌本人並不是調查對象，而是協助當局調查這位政治人物。

Mr Ai was expelled from the Communist party and removed from his post in the Shanghai government last month.

上個月，艾寶俊被開除黨籍和在上海市政府的公職。

Israeli media have reported that Mr Guo was struggling to persuade regulators that the transaction should proceed in spite of his detention. People close to the company have said that some overseas regulators are pressing for official word that Mr Guo is not still under investigation by Chinese authorities — a clarification that normally cannot be obtained in such circumstances in China.

以色列媒體報道稱，郭廣昌難以說服監管機構相信，儘管他曾遭拘禁，但這宗交易仍應繼續推進。與該集團關係密切的人士表示，一些境外監管機構正在施加壓力，要求得到關於郭廣昌未繼續受到中國當局調查的正式表態——但在中國，這種情況下一般是無法得到這樣的澄清的。

Fosun declined to comment on whether the deal was cancelled because of resistance from the Israeli regulator.

復星拒絕評論交易取消是否是因爲受到以色列監管機構的阻力。

Mr Guo said in a statement: “Fosun always adheres to the value investing philosophy and complies with the risk management principle and has been looking for various investment opportunities actively around the world. In view of the recent global market changes, we have decided to terminate this acquisition which will benefit [us] in focusing on searching for more suitable investment opportunities around the world.”

郭廣昌在一份聲明中表示：“復星一直堅守價值投資的邏輯、遵守風險管理的原則，積極在全球尋找各類投資機會；鑑於全球市場近期的變化，我們決定終止此項收購，有利於集中精力在全球範圍內尋找更合適的投資機會。”

People familiar with the company said that Fosun, given the global market situation, would focus on managing and integrating projects in which it has already invested and be more cautious in selecting new ones while trying to improve its financial leverage.

熟悉復星的人士表示，考慮到全球市場的形勢，復星會把精力集中在對已投資的項目的管理和整合上，並會在努力改善財務槓桿的同時更謹慎地物色新項目。