美的收購東芝家電 提升全球競爭力
China's Midea Group will buy a little more than 80 percent of loss-making Japanese conglomerate Toshiba's home appliances arm for 473 million dollars, the two companies said.
中國美的集團將以4.73億美元收購日本東芝集團持續虧損的家電子公司，並獲得該公司超過80%的股權。兩家公司近日宣佈了這一消息。Toshiba, which makes everything from rice cookers to nuclear plants, will retain the remaining 19.9 percent of Toshiba Lifestyle Products And Services Corporation (TLSC), which will retain its name, the two said in a joint statement.
從洗衣機到核電站，東芝集團都可以進行製造。兩家公司在聯合聲明中表示，美的收購東芝生活電器株式會社後，東芝集團仍然保有其19.9%的股權，並且公司還將會保留其原有名字。Under the deal, Midea will be licensed to use Toshiba brands for home appliances for 40 years, obtain more than 5,000 intellectual property assets, and be authorised to use other related patents retained by Toshiba, it said.
根據協議，美的可以使用東芝家電品牌40年，並獲得5000餘項專利使用權，以及授權使用東芝其他相關專利。
The deal is the latest in a series of overseas acquisitions by Chinese firms, and comes as Beijing seeks to retool its heavy industry-dependent economy to one more driven by consumer demand.
此項交易是中國公司最新的海外併購，現在中國政府正在尋求把依賴重工業的經濟轉向爲內需拉動增長的經濟。Chinese companies have made global headlines with multi-billion dollar buys in recent years, including state-owned ChemChina's 43 billion dollars offer last month for Swiss pesticide and seed giant Syngenta -- the biggest-ever overseas acquisition by a Chinese firm if it goes through. Another Chinese home appliance maker, Haier, announced in January that it will buy the appliances arm of US giant General Electric for $5.4 billion.
近些年，中國公司動輒上億的收購經常登上國際新聞的頭條，這其中就包括中國化工集團公司上個月以430億美元的價格報價瑞士農化集團先正達，如果順利的話，這將是中國公司最大的一次海外收購。另一家中國家電企業海爾公司於今年1月份宣佈，將會以54億美元收購美國GE家電業務。Midea's chairman Fang Hongbo said the acquisition of the Toshiba unit -- which he called an "iconic brand" -- was "an important landmark in Midea's globalisation endeavour" and would "significantly strengthen our competitiveness in Japan, Southeast Asia and the global market".
美的總裁方洪波表示，東芝電器子公司是標誌性品牌，收購東芝家電公司是美的全球化事業的重要里程碑，將會極大地加強美的在日本、東南亞以及世界市場的競爭力。In the joint statement, issued Wednesday, Toshiba president Masashi Muromachi added he was "confident that Midea's further investment in RAndD, marketing and branding will bring about a brighter future for the home appliances business".
在週三發佈的聯合聲明中，東芝總裁兼首席執行官室町正志表示，相信美的在研發、營銷和品牌方面的進一步投資將會爲家電業務創造更輝煌的前景。
