酿造商的并购

　　SABMiller’s tale

　　SABMiller神话

　　Heroic Aussie beer-drinkers make Foster’s a tempting takeover target

　　福斯特成为收购目标 澳大利亚啤酒消费者功不可没

　　Sep 24th 2011 | from the print edition

　　“FOSTER’S, Australian for beer” went one slogan. Oddly, few Aussies sip the amber nectar. In Britain, where it is ubiquitous, it is brewed by Heineken, a Dutch beermaker. Yet Foster’s, Australia’s largest brewer, looks appetising to SABMiller, the world’s second-largest. On September 21st the London-based firm seemed to end a long takeover battle by raising its cash bid for Foster’s to A$9.9 billion ($10.1 billion). The Foster’s board has recommended accepting the offer.

　　有则广告叫“福斯特，澳洲人的啤酒”。但很奇怪，很少有澳洲人会品尝这种琥珀色的佳酿。在英国情况却是大不一样，几乎人人畅饮荷兰人酿造的“喜力”啤酒。然而现在，澳洲最大的啤酒酿造商福斯特集团正逐渐引起世界第二大啤酒酿造商，英国南非米勒集团（SABMiller,以下简称南非米勒）的兴趣。9月21日这家总部位于伦敦的公司最终决定提高收购价，以99亿澳元（101亿美元）的价格收购福斯特集团。福斯特集团董事会建议接受该收购价。

　　SABMiller, which has 10% of the global market, will acquire a business that generates barrels of cash. Australians chug an impressive 84 litres of beer a year. (The global average is a shameful 27 litres.) And though Aussies shun the insipid stuff with “Foster’s” on the can, they love the company’s Victoria Bitter, which is the nation’s bestseller. Foster’s brews seven of the ten most popular beers in Oz and has half the domestic market by volume, though its share has slipped over the years.

　　南非米勒目前占有全球10%的市场份额。而且将要被其收购的福斯特集团将会为其带来大量收入。澳洲人每年的啤酒消费量令人乍舌的达到84公升（全球平均量只有27公升）。尽管人们对啤酒罐上的“福斯特”标识不甚关注，但对该公司的Victoria Bitter牌啤酒却钟爱有加，该啤酒正是全澳洲最畅销的啤酒。全澳洲十大最受欢迎的啤酒中就有七种是福斯特酿造的。尽管在国内市场上福斯特集团的份额在不断下跌，但仍达到50%。

　　Alas, like most wealthy drinkers, Australians are forsaking beer for wine and other unmanly tipples. The domestic beer market, flat for the past 25 years, has remained so only because of a growing population. SABMiller can probably cut costs; Foster’s has been badly run. Its expertise may help to win back market share and its global procurement operation will help to save cash. But as Olivier Nicola? of UBS, a bank, points out, synergies are limited. SABMiller, which has not done a big deal since 2005, may simply want to join the global trend towards consolidation. It has low debts and lots of cash, so why not?

　　与其他发达国家的消费者一般，澳大利亚人饮酒习惯正逐渐倾向于葡萄酒及其它“女性”酒。国内的啤酒市场，只是由于人口数量的增加，才得以在过去25年中保持稳定。 米勒也许能削减成本，福斯特却已经是经营不善了。其专业人士或许能帮助福斯特重获市场份额，而且其全球采购计划也能降低开支。但正如瑞银集团的Olivier Nicolai所说的，合并的效果是有限的。自2005年以来，南非米勒集团的交易量一直不大，而其收购的目的就是向全球扩张。债务低，资金多，何乐而不为呢？

　　Because Australia is a mature market, grumble many shareholders. Of all the global brewers, SABMiller has by far the biggest presence in emerging markets. Profits are thinner in such places, but beer drinking is growing healthily. Dirk Van Vlaanderen of Jefferies, a bank, notes that buying Foster’s will only drag the emerging-market share of SABMiller’s revenues down from 80% to 70% of the total. But growth-hungry investors are still miffed.

　　因为澳大利亚的市场已经成熟，因此众多股东对此次收购怨声一片。然而新兴市场方面，在众多啤酒酿造商中，南非米勒集团占有最大的市场份额。在这些地区虽然利润不大，但啤酒消费市场却在健康的发展当中。杰弗瑞集团的Dirk Van Vlaanderen认为收购福斯特，会让南非米勒总收入中来自新兴市场的收入比例由80%下降为70%。那些亟需发展的投资者们对此却甚为不满。

　　Analysts at Collins Stewart, a financial firm, speculate that SABMiller wants to buy Foster’s to make it harder for Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, to swallow SABMiller. Others doubt that such a deal would happen for years, if ever. And for a brewer aiming at world domination, a bigger SABMiller might be an even more tempting target.

　　根据高林斯特投资银行的分析师推测，南非米勒集团想借收购福斯特，来增加世界最大酿造商Anheuser-Busch Inbey对其收购的难度。也有人认为即使其想收购南非米勒，那也得耗费数年的时间。而对于任何一家欲称霸全球的酿造商来说，南非米勒越大，则诱惑力就越大。