Lex专栏：股权融资不是一锤子买卖

Nobody loves them and many actively despise them. It is just as well that so many Chinese companies that listed in the US through reverse mergers are trying to get out. Closing this chapter in the story of corporate China’s growing engagement with the rest of the world cannot come soon enough.

谁都不待见它们，很多人还对它们鄙视有加。大量通过“借壳在美上市的中国公司，正在努力退出美国股市——这其实没什么大不了的。中国企业融入世界的故事中出现的这一幕，不会立刻就结束。

So-called “advisers promised the glamour of a New York listing to smallish Chinese companies that either did not understand the importance of corporate governance or simply wanted the money. Egregious examples of each have poisoned the well for all: since their peak at the end of 2010, Chinese reverse-merger stocks have dropped by more than two-thirds, according to a Bloomberg index, aided by short sellers, fears of fraud and poor liquidity. By contrast, an index of the largest US-listed Chinese groups – the likes of Baidu, Sinopec and China Mobile – is up by 10 per cent. Smaller US companies, with which the reverse mergers are more comparable, have gained a fifth.

那些所谓的“咨询机构向中国中小企业保证，在纽约上市好处多多。可是这些企业要么不明白公司治理的重要性，要么只想圈钱。这两种情况中的突出恶例起到了“一马勺坏一锅的效果：彭博(Bloomberg)的一项指数显示，自2010年末达到历史峰值以来，借壳上市的中国企业的股价已累计下跌逾三分之二，卖空者、对欺诈的担忧情绪以及流动性不佳更是起到了推波助澜的作用。相比之下，一项衡量在美上市的中国大型企业（如百度、中石化(Sinopec)和中国移动(China Mobile)）股价表现的指数累计上涨了10%。美国中小企业（它们与借壳上市的中国中小企业更具可比性）的股价则累计上涨了五分之一。

Take-private offers worth nearly $3bn are pending and almost $4bn have already been completed, according to Dealogic. But premiums have dropped. From almost 50 per cent in 2010, they are averaging 38 per cent this year. Money will be lost but getting out at least draws a line under unhappy experiences.

Dealogic的数据显示，近期即将对借壳上市中国企业发出的私有化要约价值将近30亿美元，而已完成的私有化交易价值将近40亿美元。不过，收购溢价却有所下滑。2010年时溢价近乎为50%，今年则降至平均38%。退市之举虽然在金钱方面会造成些损失，但它至少为不愉快的经历画上了句号。

Most offers are repurchases by the founder, usually still the majority shareholder. Some deals have private equity backing in the expectation that they will eventually relist, say in Hong Kong. That is for another day. For now, many will struggle just to extricate themselves from the US taxman and the poor legal structures they adopted as part of the listing “package, which often included lawyers and bankers.

上述多数要约都属于这类企业的创始人发起的回购，这些人通常都是多数股股东。有些交易得到私人股本的资金支持。这些私人股本期望，这类企业最终还能在香港等地重新上市。这都是后话了。就现在而言，其中很多企业首先得使出浑身解数来摆脱美国税务当局和上市那“一锤子买卖中采用的糟糕法律架构（通常涉及律师和银行家）带来的困扰。

Seeking equity financing should never be a package deal and should not be done by means of shady back door routes. Companies that think they deserve public attention must act that way from the very beginning. Time for a new story.

股权融资绝不应成为一锤子买卖，也不应通过不正当的走后门来实现。那些认为自己有理由引起公众关注的企业，必须从一开始就采取正确的做法。现在是时候谱写新的故事了。

Lex专栏是由FT评论家联合撰写的短评，对全球经济与商业进行精辟分析