经济学人26:山林地区股东的势均力敌之争

 　　Business.

　　商业。

　　German business.

　　德国商业。

　　Screwdrivers¹ drawn².

　　拉锯战。

　　A shareholder³ stand-off in the Black Forest.

　　山林地区股东的势均力敌之争。

　　IF YOU have ever struggled to assemble a flat-pack wardrobe, the chances are that its wooden pieces were cut, drilled and finished on machines made by Homag. Founded in 1960 in Schopfloch, in the Black Forest, Homag is one of those little-known world champions that are the backbone⁴ of the German economy.

　　如果你组装过组合式衣柜，这些木质零部件可能是由豪迈公司机械化切割、钻孔及加工润饰的。位于德国山林区绍普夫洛赫的豪迈公司成立于1960年。德国有许多低知名度的世界顶级公司，他们是德国经济的脊梁，而豪迈公司正是其中的一员。

　　But not all is well in Schopfloch. Gerhard Schuler, one of its founders⁵, now a sprightly⁶ 85, is at war with Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG), a private-equity firm that was once his dream partner. After buying into the company in 1997 DBAG built up a stake of 60%. When Homag was floated on the stockmarket in 2007 it kept 33% and Mr Schuler stayed on as honorary chairman with a small stake. But business dipped in 2008 and the shares plunged⁷. Mr Schuler and his supporters, worried about the direction the company was taking, started buying. They built a blocking minority of 25.01%.

　　但是绍普夫洛赫并非一切安好。豪迈公司创建者之一，现年85岁活跃的Gerhard Schuler先生正在与德意志参股上市公司 (DBAG)处于争斗之中。DBAG是一家私人股权公司，曾经是Schuler先生理想中的合作伙伴。1997年，DBAG通过入股豪迈公司而拥有其60%的股份。当2007年豪迈公司股票大涨时，DBAG持有33%的股份，同时，Schuler先生持有少量股份并担任豪迈公司的名誉主席。但在2008年发生了经济下滑和股票缩水，Schuler先生及其支持者由于担心公司的经营方向开始购买股权。最终他们持有具有否决权的25.01%的少数股权。

　　That did not stop DBAG kicking Mr Schuler's three appointees off Homag's supervisory board two years ago and replacing them with people who were "more internationally minded". Since then, the two sides have been at screwdrivers drawn.

　　这并没有阻止DBAG在两年前将三位Schuler的任命人踢出豪迈监事会，并重新委任了更具有全球视野的人。自那时起，双方便陷入拉锯战之中。

　　At a stormy shareholders⁸' meeting last month things came to a head. Mr Schuler and his allies accused DBAG of being a "locust⁹" interested only in short-term profit, and of selling out to a foreign buyer. Local staff want Achim Gauss, Homag's long-standing technical director, who resigned abruptly¹⁰ "for personal reasons" on May 23rd, to be reinstated. IKEA, a Swedish furniture chain and Homag's biggest customer, also expressed concern at Mr Gauss's departure.

　　在上月召开的激烈的股东会议中，问题逐渐变得突出。Schuler一方指责DBAG只关注短期利益，并向外国买家出售股份。豪迈的全体职工希望Achim Gauss复职，他是豪迈资深技术主管，于5月23日突然宣布"因个人原因"辞职。豪迈最大的客户，瑞典连锁家具企业IKEA也表示了对Gauss离职的关注。

　　DBAG, one of Germany's oldest private-equity firms, is not obviously locust-like. Its executives insist it is there for the long term. However, Homag is DBAG's biggest investment and its shares have not performed well. Half of DBAG's stake is owned by two of its investment funds, one of which is scheduled to wind up this year. So a partial exit would be logical. There is no reason for a forced sale, says a DBAG source: that would weaken DBAG's influence. Meanwhile, Mr Schuler's crowd are looking for a white knight¹¹.

　　作为德国历史最悠久的私人股权公司，DBAG明显不是目光短浅，它的执行官坚称DBAG有长期规划。然而，豪迈是DBAG最大的投资项目，并且豪迈在股市的表现欠佳。DBAG的一半股份由它的两个投资基金拥有，其中之一正计划着今年撤出，因此不完全的退出是有合理的。据来自DBAG的消息称，我们没有原因进行被迫交易，这将削弱DBAG的影响力。与此同时，Schuler一方正在寻找救世主。

　　More happily, Homag's business is on the rebound¹². Last year's turnover¹³ of ￡800m ($1.1 billion) was near the pre-crisis peak, and the closing of three German subsidiaries should cut costs. Gordon Sch?nell of Bankhaus Lampe, a private bank, says that "the managers are doing the right things." But for Mr Schuler the shift from family firm to shareholder capitalism¹⁴ has gone too far.

　　令人高兴的是，豪迈的经营状况正在好转。去年它的营业总额达到8亿欧元（11亿美元），接近经济危机前的最高值，而且关闭三家德国下属公司可以削减部分成本。私有银行Gordon Sch?nell of Bankhaus Lampe宣称豪迈管理者正在做正确的事情。但是对Schuler来说，从家族企业向股份资本企业的转变已是渐行渐远。

1 screwdrivers   

n.螺丝刀( screwdriver的名词复数 )；螺丝起子；改锥；伏特加橙汁鸡尾酒

参考例句：

• No, I have everything: hammer, screwdrivers, all that stuff. 不用了，我什么都有了：锤子、螺丝刀，全套家伙。 来自休闲英语会话
• Aussies are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers. 每年有58个澳洲佬因使用锋利的刀子来代替螺丝刀而受伤。 来自互联网

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

4 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

5 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

6 sprightly   

adj.愉快的，活泼的

参考例句：

• She is as sprightly as a woman half her age.她跟比她年轻一半的妇女一样活泼。
• He's surprisingly sprightly for an old man.他这把年纪了，还这么精神，真了不起。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

9 locust   

n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐

参考例句：

• A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
• This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。

10 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

11 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

12 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

13 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

14 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。