必和必拓計劃剝離約130億美元資產

BHP Billiton, the world’s most valuable miner, is to break itself up via a stock market spin-off, signalling an end to years of deals and expansion driven by the commodities boom.

世界上最具價值的礦商——必和必拓(BHP Billiton)，即將通過股市剝離進行拆分，這標誌着由大宗商品繁榮驅動的多年交易和擴張熱潮走到終點。

Heeding investor calls for resources groups to improve returns amid weaker commodities markets, BHP set out plans to improve its performance by demerging its less profitable mines and processing plants.

爲響應投資者要求資源企業在大宗商品市場較爲疲弱的時期改善回報，必和必拓推出了改善業績的計劃，方法是將盈利較差的礦山和冶煉廠剝離出去。

The spin-off of a new company, with an estimated value of about $13bn, will unwind a large part of the 2001 merger between BHP and Billiton, a landmark mining deal that heralded more tie-ups in the sector and years of China-led growth in commodities markets.

2001年，BHP和Billiton合併，創下礦業的一筆地標性交易，並帶來了更多礦業合併案，以及由中國引領的大宗商品市場的多年增長。在當年那筆合併案中合併的相當大一部分資產，本次將被打包爲一家估值約爲130億美元的新公司，從必和必拓剝離出去。

BHP and its rivals spent much of the next decade scrambling to acquire assets to satisfy China’s seemingly insatiable hunger for metals such as iron ore and ­copper. However, since 2012 a generation of deals-driven leaders – including Tom Albanese at Rio Tinto and Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American – has been forced out amid disappointment at poor investments and huge cost blowouts.

2001年那筆合併案之後的近十年裏，必和必拓及其競爭對手爭相收購資產，以滿足中國對鐵礦石和銅等金屬貌似永無止境的需求。然而，投資失敗和嚴重超支現象屢屢出現，引發投資者不滿，自2012年起，在收購熱潮中崛起的一代礦商領袖紛紛被迫離職，其中包括力拓(Rio Tinto)的艾博年(Tom Albanese)以及英美資源公司(Anglo American)的辛西婭•卡羅爾(Cynthia Carroll)。

Marius Kloppers – who as BHP’s chief executive tried to buy Rio, its closest rival – also left last year.

曾嘗試收購力拓（與必和必拓實力最接近的競爭對手）的必和必拓前首席執行官高瑞思(Marius Kloppers)，去年也離職了。

BHP’s demerger plans, unveiled yesterday by Andrew Mackenzie, Mr Kloppers’ successor, underscore the changing mood in mining over the past 18 months as new chief executives have promised more careful investments and better returns.

昨日由高瑞思的繼任者安德魯•麥肯齊(Andrew Mackenzie)宣佈的這項分拆計劃，凸顯出過去一年半以來礦產行業氛圍的變化。必和必拓的新任首席執行官承諾要更加謹慎地對待投資，並提高回報率。

But the Anglo-Australian group disappointed investors by failing to put forward plans to return cash, with Mr Mackenzie admitting a share buyback had been blown off course this year by weaker commodities markets, particularly in iron ore.

但這家在英國和澳大利亞同時上市的企業未能拿出向投資者返還現金的方案，這讓投資者失望。麥肯齊承認，大宗商品市場（尤其是鐵礦石市場）比預計的更爲疲弱，導致股票回購未能按計劃進行。

“Even though we have done a great job in terms of generating a lot of extra cash through increasing productivity and reducing capital, that has not been quite enough to compensate for the significant reduction in prices,” he said.

他說：“儘管我們努力通過提高生產率和減少資本金，創造了大量額外資金，但仍難以彌補價格的顯著下跌。”

“We are not quite there yet in terms of what we thought the balance sheet would need to look like . . . to start a new form of capital management that we felt we could endure for years.”

“我們仍未能讓資產負債表達到我們理想的狀態，在這種理想的狀態下，我們能開啓一種在我們看來能持續多年的新型資本管理。”

BHP shares fell nearly 5 per cent in London as investors digested the miner’s plan to use exchanges in Australia and South Africa to list the company holding the demerged assets. The spin-off is expected to be completed next year.

必和必拓打算將剝離出去的資產組成的新公司在澳大利亞和南非的交易所上市，這一消息傳出後，其股價在倫敦下跌近5%。剝離操作預計將於明年完成。

The proposal will mean some UK investors with no mandate to hold non-UK stocks will have to sell the new group’s shares when it lists. “We think small Billiton shareholders could get cashed out with the company buying their shares,” said one London-based trader.

必和必拓的資產剝離方案意味着，當新公司上市時，一些無法持有非英國股票的英國投資者將被迫出售那家新公司的股票。倫敦的一名交易員說：“我們認爲，公司會從必和必拓的小股東手中回購股票，讓股東得到現金。”

Mr Mackenzie said BHP – which has a dual listing in Australia and the UK – had to treat all investors equally. “We are giving them all exactly the same assets,” he said.

麥肯齊說，必和必拓（在澳大利亞和英國兩地上市）必須公平對待所有投資者。他說：“我們會給他們完全同樣的資產。”