中國財團6億美元收購澳洲避孕套生產商

A Chinese consortium will pay $600m for an Australian condom manufacturer in a bet on growing demand for the contraceptives in China, where consumers are becoming more concerned about sexual health and upgrading to higher-end brands.

一家中國財團將斥資6億美元收購澳大利亞一家避孕套製造商，看好中國對避孕用具日益增長的需求。在中國，消費者對性健康正變得愈發關心，正在向更高端的品牌升級。

Humanwell Healthcare, a Shanghai-listed pharmaceuticals company, and state-owned Citic Capital China Partners will buy the century-old condoms and sexual health business of Ansell, whose Jissbon brand sheaths are already a mainstay in Chinese convenience stores.

在上海上市的製藥公司人福醫藥(Humanwell Healthcare)和國有的中信資本中國基金(Citic Capital China Partners)，將收購安思爾(Ansell)旗下有百年曆史的避孕套和性保健企業，其傑士邦(Jissbon)品牌避孕套已成爲中國便利店的常見商品。

China’s condom market will almost triple in value to $5bn by 2024 from 2015, Transparency Market Research said in a report last year, as more liberal attitudes to sex among young people and awareness of sexually transmitted diseases through government campaigns outweigh the impact from the end of China’s one-child policy.

透明市場研究(Transparency Market Research)在去年一份報告裏表示，隨着年輕人對性的態度更趨自由化、同時在政府宣傳下人們對性傳播疾病的認識壓過了中國一胎化政策結束的影響，到2024年中國避孕套市場的規模相比2015年將增長近兩倍。

“Volumes are not expanding but there is massive upgrading,” in search of higher quality and a superior feel, said Shaun Rein of China Market Research Group, a consultancy. “This is where the foreign brands definitely have the advantage. Consumers are moving up the value chain.”

諮詢公司中國市場研究集團(China Market Research Group)的雷小山(Shaun Rein)表示，在消費者尋找更高品質和出色體驗的過程中，“銷售量並未擴大，但出現了大規模升級”。“這正是國外品牌有絕對優勢的領域。消費者正在向價值鏈高端移動。”

Chinese tourists to Japan have been returning home with bundles of condoms and Japanese manufacturers have been ramping up exports to China in recent years following a series of safety scandals that have reduced trust in local brands such as Donless, Double Butterfly and Gobon.

近年來，在一系列安全醜聞降低了人們對多樂士(Donless)、雙蝶(Double Butterfly)和高邦(Gobon)等本土品牌的信任後，中國赴日遊客一直在將成捆的避孕套帶回國，日本製造商也一直在加大對華出口。

Last year Shanghai police said they seized 3m locally made condoms manufactured from inferior and in some cases foul-smelling materials, following a 2013 bust of 5m fakes. Counterfeit Chinese condoms have been found as far afield as Ghana and Puerto Rico in recent years.

去年，上海警方表示，他們查獲了300萬隻在國內生產的避孕套。這些避孕套用低劣的材料製成，有的材料帶有難聞氣味。此前，2013年還曾一次性查獲500萬隻假避孕套。最近幾年，中國的僞劣避孕套甚至在加納和波多黎各等遙遠國度也被發現。

Jissbon is a mid-level brand in China, appealing to lower-income workers and students who are wary of local products, said Mr Rein. “It’s above the Chinese brands,” he added.

雷小山表示，傑士邦在中國屬於中檔品牌，對擔心國內產品的較低收入工薪族和學生有吸引力。他還表示：“該品牌的形象要高於中國品牌。”

China’s young people are having sex earlier, state media reported last year, with the average age of the youngest generation’s first sexual experience occurring at 17.

官媒去年報道稱，中國年輕人的性愛年齡提前，最年輕一代的首次性體驗平均發生在17歲。

Ansell’s main competitor in China is Reckitt Benckiser, which owns Durex, and has one of its largest factories in the Chinese city of Qingdao.

安思爾在中國的主要競爭對手是旗下擁有杜蕾斯(Durex)的利潔時集團(Reckitt Benckiser)，後者在中國青島市建有其最大的工廠之一。

Ansell said on Thursday it would buy back up to 10 per cent of the company’s shares following the sale of the condom business and is seeking acquisition opportunities as it refocuses its business on its medical and industrials division.

安思爾週四表示，在出售避孕套企業後將回購至多10%的公司股票，並在將業務重新聚焦於醫療和工業部門之際，尋找收購機會。

Based on Wednesday’s closing share price, this implies a buy back worth US$265m. “Ansell will now turn its focus to the acceleration of the three business-to-business divisions while improving operating efficiencies further,” said Magnus Nicolin, the company’s chief executive.

根據週三安思爾股票收盤價，這意味着回購規模爲2.65億美元。該公司首席執行官馬格努斯?尼科林(Magnus Nicolin)表示：“目前，安思爾將把注意力轉向進一步提高運營效率，同時加快三個B2B部門的發展。”

The transaction was concluded at a multiple of 16 times 2016 full-year earnings. It is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be complete by the end of September 2017.

該交易的達成價格是2016年全年盈利的16倍。交易需得到監管部門的批准，預計會在2017年9月底以前完成。