李嘉誠重組帝國的運籌之道

There comes a time in Most people’s lives, usually very late in the lives of self-made billionaires, when they settle their affairs and divide up their assets to put everything in order for the family. It has the added benefit for business moguls of pleasing the shareholders.

多數人在生命的某個時刻——對白手起家的億萬富豪而言，這個時刻通常來得很晚——要把個人事務料理妥當，並對資產進行分割，以便爲整個家族把一切打點得有條不紊。對商業大亨而言，這麼做還有取悅股東的額外好處。

That is probably the reason Li Ka-shing has split his Hong Kong conglomerate, rather than because he has converted to the US view that conglomerates are inefficient; or is hedging against a collapse in the Chinese property market; or is shifting his companies’ registrations to the Cayman Islands in case he has to leave Hong Kong (having fled there as a child during the Japanese invasion of China).

很可能正因如此，李嘉誠(Li Ka-shing)才重組了他的香港企業集團，而並不是因爲他接受了美國人的觀點——企業集團的效率不高，或爲了防範中國房地產市場的崩盤，抑或爲了把旗下公司的註冊地換到開曼羣島(Cayman Islands)、以防自己要被迫離開香港（日本侵華期間，還是孩童的他隨家人逃到香港）。

At 86, Mr Li has followed 83-year-old Rupert Murdoch in dividing his business empire. Like the media mogul, he has been greeted by applause from the stock market, which had lost hope of either man making greater sense of his assets . Mr Li no doubt enjoyed the 14 per cent jump in the combined value of Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa on Monday.

86歲的李嘉誠效仿83歲的魯珀特•默多克(Rupert Murdoch)，拆分了自己的商業帝國。像媒體大亨默多克一樣，李嘉誠也得到了股票市場的喝彩，股市此前對這兩個人能否更明智地處置自己的資產失去了信心。上週，長江實業(Cheung Kong Holdings)與和記黃埔(Hutchison Whampoa)的市值之和大增14%，這個消息無疑讓李嘉誠感到高興。

I doubt that was why he did it. Sumner Redstone, who split CBS from Viacom in 2006 aged 82, is unusual among moguls in being heavily fixated on the short-term share price. Most postpone reordering their empires for as long as possible, no matter what the short-term cost.

我懷疑這是否就是李嘉誠的用意所在。2006年，82歲的雷石東(Sumner Redstone)將美國哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS)從維亞康姆(Viacom)剝離出來。他特別在乎公司短期股價，這讓他在衆多大亨當中顯得很另類。多數大亨都儘量推遲重新安排自己帝國的時間，不管短期內會付出多大的代價。

But mortality and the quest for shareholder value eventually produce the same outcome: the restructuring of business empires that were created through improvisation and inspired asset trading, and can be held together only by the founders. Without their authority, the twin forces of familial rivalry and investor pressure tend to pull these empires apart.

但死亡和追求股東價值最終會帶來同一個後果：對那些通過隨機應變和靈機一動的資產交易打造而成、唯有創始人才能保證其凝聚力的商業帝國進行重組。倘若失去了創始人的權威，家族爭鬥和投資者壓力這兩股力量的作用，往往會讓這些商業帝國分崩離析。

It makes sense. There are rare cases of later-generation genius, such as that of Ratan Tata, who gained control of his family’s Indian company and turned it into a greater force (as Mr Murdoch did). Usually, however, investors are right to tolerate waywardness in a founder who displays talent, and to be suspicious of successors.

這合乎邏輯。下一代是商業天才的情況並不多見，拉丹•塔塔(Ratan Tata)是一個例外。他掌管家族控制的印度企業之後，把它做強做大（正如魯珀特•默多克一樣）。然而，投資人通常有理由容忍已顯露才能的創始人的任性之舉，對繼任者卻心存懷疑。

The motives are hard to disentangle. Mr Li and Victor Li, his older son and likely successor, made a sound case that the reshuffling of assets into one property company and one conglomerate brings clarity to Cheung Kong and Hutchison. Shareholders want to be able to invest in the assets they choose rather than having to tolerate corporate confusion.

李嘉誠這樣做的動機是個難解之謎。李嘉誠及其長子、可能的繼承人李澤鉅(Victor Li)給出了一個強有力的理由：將旗下資產重新打包爲一家房地產公司“長地”和一家企業集團“長和”，能讓外界能看明白長江實業與和記黃埔的區別。股東想要能夠投資他們選擇的資產，而不是被迫容忍公司業務的混亂。

This never bothered Mr Libefore. He first bought a stake in Hutchison, an old Hong Kong trading company that had run into difficulty, in 1979. Since then his family trusts have held a minority stake in Hutchison through Cheung Kong, the company he founded in Hong Kong in 1950 to make plastic flowers.

以前這個問題從未令李嘉誠感到煩惱。1979年，他首次買入和記黃埔一定的股權，當時那是一家陷入困境的老牌香港貿易公司。自那以來，李氏家族信託一直通過長江實業持有和記黃埔的少數股權。長江實業是李嘉誠於1950年創立的一家塑料花生產企業。

There is a clue in the name — Cheung Kong means “long river” (Cantonese for the Yangtze) and Mr Li wanted his company to meander around and change course, absorbing smaller businesses along the way. He identified flexibility with longevity — sticking to the straight and narrow would limit growth.

公司的名字“長江”爲我們解開這個謎題提供了一條線索：李嘉誠希望他的公司蜿蜒而行，該改道就改道，一路上吸納一些中小型企業。他認爲靈活才能長久，堅守筆直而狹窄的河道會限制發展。

The confusion between what Cheung Kong and Hutchison each do has grown in the past few years. Cheung Kong used some of the cash from its property portfolio to buy an aircraft leasing group last year, and runs a joint property venture in China with Hutchison.

過去幾年來，長江實業與和記黃埔的業務界限變得越來越模糊。去年，長江實業動用來自其地產投資組合的部分現金收購了一家飛機租賃公司；長江實業還與和記黃埔合資在內地經營着一家房地產企業。

That is the Asian way. Family-controlled conglomerates dominate the economy in South Korea, India and China. According to a McKinsey & Co study, they form 80 per cent of the largest 50 companies by revenue in South Korea, and 90 per cent in India. Many have diversified into activities unrelated to their original businesses, although such “stepping out” often fails.

這正是亞洲特色。家族控制的企業集團在韓國、印度和中國的經濟中佔據重要地位。麥肯錫(McKinsey & Co)的一份研究顯示，按營收計，家族企業佔到韓國50家最大企業（以營收計)的80%，在印度的這個比例則達90%。許多家族企業多元化發展，進入跟原始業務無關的領域，不過這種“業務拓展”常以失敗告終。

Mr Li cares more about control than clarity. This deal exchanges his 43 per cent stake in Cheung Kong for a 30 per cent stake in each company. In the past he would have seen reducing his holding as a risk, but his companies are now large enough and he is old enough to feel more secure.

李嘉誠關心控制權勝過關心清晰度。根據最新的重組方案，他將把所持43%的長江實業的股權，置換成長和與長地各30%的股權。過去，他會把持股比例降低視爲風險，但目前他的公司已足夠大，他的年歲也已足夠高，能夠給他更多安全感。

He has the salutary example of Mr Murdoch, who bought Star TV from Mr Li and Richard, his younger son, in 1993. Mr Murdoch resisted splitting News Corp into entertainment and publishing arms until 2013, when he acted under pressure from the phone-hacking scandal in the UK.

默多克爲李嘉誠提供了一個有益的榜樣。1993年，默多克從李嘉誠和他的次子李澤楷(Richard Li)手中買入了星空傳媒(Star TV)。直到2013年之前，默多克一直不願把新聞集團(News Corp)拆分爲娛樂和出版兩家公司。2013年，他迫於英國電話竊聽醜聞的壓力，纔不得不這麼做。

Since then he has not only gained from the rising value of 21st Century Fox, but has also been able to give jobs to James and Lachlan, two of his children, at the top of Fox and News Corp . Splitting the empire while remaining chairman of both companies has provided greater scope to fix his succession.

自那以來，默多克不但從21世紀福克斯(21st Century Fox)的市值上升中獲益，而且能夠在福克斯和新聞集團的最高層給他的兩個孩子詹姆斯•默多克(James Murdoch)和拉克倫•默多克(Lachlan Murdoch)安排職位。拆分商業帝國，同時留任兩家公司的董事長，給他處理家業繼承問題提供了更大空間。

On the face of it, Mr Li has settled the matter at Cheung Kong and Hutchison. In 2012 he transferred Richard’s stake in the family trust to Victor and named the latter as his successor. It is, however, inescapable that having two cleanly separated companies makes it easier for him to change his mind.

表面上看來，李嘉誠已解決了長江實業與和記黃埔的繼承問題。2012年，李嘉誠把李澤楷在家族信託中的份額轉移至李澤鉅名下，並指定李澤鉅爲他的繼承人。但不容忽視的是，有了兩家分割清楚的公司之後，他要改變主意也更容易了。

The risks of not dividing the spoils before you go are obvious. Reliance, an Indian conglomerate, broke apart in 2005 when Mukesh and Anil Ambani started to feud after their father’s death. America’s Pritzker business empire was painstakingly divided over several years amid family tensions.

離世前不分割財產的風險是顯而易見的。穆克什•安巴尼(Mukesh Ambani)和安尼爾•安巴尼(Anil Ambani)在父親死後不和，導致印度企業集團信實(Reliance)在2005年一分爲二。美國普里茨克(Pritzker)家族的商業帝國，也因家庭不和在幾年間被分成多份，令人嘆息。

As long as a strong-minded patriarch holds it together, there are strengths to letting a conglomerate seek growth where it can and ignore the corporate finance textbook. But the older you are, the higher the cost.

只要有一位意志堅強的家長仍讓一家企業集團凝聚在一起，那麼讓這家集團盡其所能在有增長機會的領域尋求增長，忽略公司財務教科書怎麼講，是有不少優勢的。但你年齡越大，這麼做的代價也就越高。