貝萊德質疑香港市場借殼上市現象
When G-Resources announced plans last November to sell its main asset, a highly profitable gold mine responsible for more than 99 per cent of its revenues, there was only minor public stirring. Behind the scenes, however, investors soon began expressing concern. This week that disquiet broke into the open with BlackRock’s first criticism of an investment in at least two decades.
去年11月，當國際資源集團(G-Resources)宣佈出售其主要資產的計劃時，僅在公衆當中引發了細微反響。其主要資產是一個利潤豐厚的金礦，該礦營收佔到集團總營收的逾99%。但在公衆視線以外，投資者們很快就開始表達關切。本週，隨着貝萊德(BlackRock)在至少20年裏第一次批評自己的一項投資，這種憂慮公開化了。
Investors fear the Hong Kong-listed group, which has changed names and businesses several times since it went public as a packaging manufacturer in 1994, is about to reduce itself to a shell without, as yet, the expertise to pursue its stated plans of investing in financial services.
投資者擔心，這家香港上市集團將淪爲一家殼公司，與此同時，它還尚不具備必需的專業技能去執行其宣佈的投資於金融服務業的計劃。自從1994年以包裝生產商身份上市以來，國際資源集團已多次變更過公司名稱和經營範圍。
Assuming G-Resource’s sale of the Martabe mine is approved, it will have about $1bn of cash to spend.
假如國際資源集團出售Martabe礦的計劃獲得批准，那麼該公司將擁有約10億美元的現金可供支出。
BlackRock’s unusually public blast comes as regulators and investors alike are worrying that listed cash shells in Hong Kong are becoming the latest vehicles for an ongoing problem: the use of backdoor listings to circumvent the rigours of a full public offering. And Chinese companies, starved of funding on the mainland, are the driver.
貝萊德發出非同尋常的公開批評之際，監管機構和投資者都在擔心，香港的上市現金殼公司正在成爲一個持續存在的問題的最新工具，這個問題是，借殼上市以避開新上市申請人受到的種種嚴格限制。在內地無法融資的中國企業，正是該問題的癥結所在。
“Backdoor listings are happening because of the situation in China, where there is a huge need for finance but entities are unable to tap into the capital market,” says Stephen Taylor, chair of the Hong Kong Exchange’s Listing Committee, which oversees listing applications and issues with already-listed groups.
“正是由於中國內地的狀況，所以出現了借殼上市現象。在中國內地，企業的融資需求十分旺盛，但無法進入資本市場，”香港交易所(HKEx)上市委員會主席斯蒂芬•泰勒(Stephen Taylor)說。他負責處理上市申請，以及已上市公司的各種問題。
China’s initial public offerings were abruptly halted last summer as part of Beijing’s efforts to curb the mainland market plunge. The listing process was restarted in November, but hundreds of companies are already in the queue.
爲了抑制股市暴跌，中國當局在去年夏季突然暫停了首次公開發行(IPO)。去年11月，IPO重新啓動，但排隊中的公司已有數百家之多。
Acquiring a listed company gives the buyer instant access to a funding platform as well as the credibility of a listing.
收購上市公司之後，收購方可以立即獲得融資平臺，以及上市帶來的可信度。
“A Hong Kong listing is something you can take to a bank to help with getting loans, or even to business partners in, say, Europe or US and say ‘here I am, a respectable listed group, do business with me’. So it’s got real value,” says one equity specialist banker.
“在香港上市是可以幫你獲得銀行貸款的事情；你甚至還可以告訴比如說歐美的商業夥伴，跟他們說，‘你瞧，我是一家值得尊敬的上市公司，跟我做生意吧’。所以，香港上市公司的身份具有真正的價值，”一名專門從事股權業務的銀行業人士表示。
When the Listing Committee tightened rules on straightforward reverse takeovers in 2014, the number of cases before the Listing Committee plunged. Since then, interest appears to be shifting to cash companies.
2014年，當港交所上市委員會收緊有關直接反向收購的規則，提交至該委員會審覈的案件數量直線下降。自那時以來，借殼者的興趣似乎轉向了現金型公司。
According to Mr Taylor, in 2013 the Listing Committee saw five cash injection cases. That jumped to 13 in 2014 and 25 in the first seven months of last year.
根據泰勒的說法，2013年，有5起資金注入案呈交上市委員會。2014年，這個數字大增到13起，去年頭7個月增加到25起。
The deals can be structured in a number of ways. Listed shells can be bought, then assets injected, or they can sell their main business and use the proceeds to acquire assets to move in an entirely new direction.
交易的構建有多種方式。可以收購上市殼公司，然後向其注入資產；或者上市公司可以賣掉自己的主要業務，用所獲資金收購資產，把業務轉向一個全新的方向。
Other entities could receive a cash injection by issuing new shares to a particular investor who as a result gains control. The funds can then be used to buy new assets that marginalise the original business.
還有一些公司可以向特定的投資者發行新股，獲得現金注入，同時該投資者獲得控股權。接下來，公司可以用所獲資金收購新資產，邊緣化原有業務。
“The easiest way of stopping this would be to stop the demand, but Hong Kong can’t do that alone. What we’re trying to do, in the current situation, is use the tools available to us,” says Mr Taylor.
“阻止該局面的最簡單辦法是止住需求，但這單靠香港自己辦不到。在當前形勢下，我們正在努力做的是用好可用的工具，”泰勒表示。
The rise in cash injections prompted the HKEX to warn late last year that cash companies — those whose assets are substantially of cash — that buy new businesses could be treated as new listing applicants and forced into that more onerous procedure. New main board listings are required to show three years of profits and find at least 300 investors, among other rules.
由於資金注入案的增多，港交所在去年末警告稱，現金型公司——指主要資產是現金的公司——收購新業務，可能被按照新上市申請人來對待，必須走更困難的上市流程。除了要滿足其他規則外，新申請在主板上市的公司，還須具備三年盈利記錄，並且股東至少要有300名。
That some would-be listed groups want to avoid this is clear: the price of a listed shell can reach HK$600m ($77m), observers say. An initial public offering for a company raising that same amount would cost perhaps HK$20m.
某些打算上市的公司希望避免上述規定，這是顯而易見的：觀察人士表示，一家上市殼公司的價格可能會達到6億港元（約合7700萬美元）。一家公司若通過IPO融資這個數目，其成本可能達到2000萬港元。
The problem for the exchange is balancing its principles approach with the fact that businesses can, and do, change direction.
港交所的問題，是在其原則方法和企業可能、並且的確會改變方向的事實之間找到平衡。
“One reason for people to apply for listing here is that it’s a free market and they can do what they want. We don’t want to see a lot of backdoor listings but companies do mergers and acquisitions all the time,” says Jonathan Hsui, a partner at Ashurst, the law firm.
“人們來香港申請上市的一個原因是，這是一個自由市場，他們可以做自己想做的事情。我們不想看到大量的借殼上市，但公司併購的確時時刻刻都在發生，”亞司特律所(Ashurst)的合夥人許智豪(Jonathan Hsui)表示。
Meanwhile, shareholders in G-Resources will vote on the Martabe sale next Tuesday.
另一方面，國際資源集團的股東將在下週二對出售Martabe一事進行投票。
“Our main concern is around how the funds raised from the sale will be used,” says Pru Bennett, head of BlackRock’s investment stewardship team in Asia. “If you’ve launched yourself as a gold mining company then if the board thinks it’s appropriate to change the business, it’s something they should put to shareholders.”
“我們主要關心的是，出售獲得的資金將會如何使用，”貝萊德亞洲投資管理團隊主管布魯•本內特(Pru Bennett)表示，“如果你當初上市時是一家金礦企業，那麼，如果董事會認爲改變業務是合適的，他們應該將此事交由股東們決定。”
G-Resources did not respond to a request for comment. On Monday the company said it believed its proposals were in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.
國際資源集團沒有回覆記者的置評請求。該公司週一表示，其相信自己的計劃對公司和公司股東而言是最有利的。
